iSfa. 


OaNDARY 


CAI^IN*t)!AVIS 


UNIVERSITY  of  CALIPORNrA 
AT 

LOS  ANGELES 


'■"^P' 


PUBLIC 
SECONDARY  EDUCATION 


PUBLIC  SECONDARY 
EDUCATION 


By 
CALVIN   OLIN   DAVIS 

Assistant  Professor  of  Education  in  the  University  of  Michigan 
Author  of  "A  Guide  to  Methods  and  Observation  in  History" 


RAND   McNALLY   &   COMPANY 

CHICAGO  NEW  YORK 

O  4  Q  r:  1 


Copyright,  igi?. 
By  Rand  McNally  &  Company 


THE   CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The  Introduction  and  Preface vii 

Sources  Consulted xii 

CHAPTER 

I.  The   Colonial  Latin   School i 

^  II.  The  Middle  Period 34 

^         III.  The  Early  Northwest 64 

"*  "        IV.  Early  Michigan 85 

V.  Putting  the  Constitutional  Provisions  into  Effect  no 

VI.  Branches  of  the  University 125 

VII.  The  Academy  Movement 151 

^^'      VIII.  The  Rise  and  Development  of  the  Union  Schools  .   172 

IX.  The   High-School   Era 190 

Appendixes 243 

s       The  Index 253 


THE  INTRODUCTION  AND  PREFACE 

IN  presenting  this  work  to  the  public  few  explanations 
are  necessary.  The  aim  and  purpose  of  the  under- 
taking seemingly  are  clearly  indicated  in  the  title,  and  the 
justification  for  the  production  rests  in  the  faithfulness 
with  which  these  have  been  followed. 

Few  will  deny,  I  think,  that  the  field  of  secondary 
education  in  America  is  to-day  not  only  one  of  the  most 
interesting  fields  of  study  in  education,  but  that  it  is  a 
most  important  realm  of  investigation  and  research.  The 
high  schools  of  America  are  largely  the  foundation  upon 
which  the  colleges  and  universities  stand,  and  they  are  at 
the  same  time  the  culmination  and  the  stimulating  ideal 
toward  which  much  of  the  work  of  the  elementary  schools 
is  directed.  They  occupy  a  most  important  place  in  our 
system  of  education.  They  serve  as  agencies  of  culture 
for  culture's  sake,  and  simultaneously  constitute  prepar- 
atory institutions.  Their  character  is  therefore  unique. 
^:^]  In  almost  no  other  country  in  the  world  do  schools  of 
secondary  education  combine  so  many  functions  under  a 
single  type  of  institution.  They  are  worthy  of  extensive 
study. 

The  purpose  of  any  historical  study  is,  as  I  conceive 
it,  to  make  intelligible  the  contemporary  institutional 
and  social  life  of  the  present.  Social  conditions  of  to- 
day are  as  they  are  because  social  conditions  of  yester- 
day were  as  they  were  yesterday.  No  period  is  sufficient 
imto  itself.  No  era  stands  alone.  What  was  done  one 
hundred  years  ago  affects  in  some  measure  the  condi- 
tions now.  Not  a  jot  or  a  tittle  that  is  significant  in 
to-day's  civilization  will  be  wholly  unrelated  to  life 
interests  one   hundi'ed   years   hence. 

vii 


viii  The  Introduction  and  Preface 

Therefore,  in  order  to  comprehend  completely  the  con- 
ditions that  prevail  in  any  locality  to-day,  there  would 
be  need  to  analyze  the  entire  period  that  has  gone  before. 
Obviously,  this  is  in  large  measure  impossible.  The  best 
one  may  hope  to  do  is  to  select  and  discriminate,  and  thus 
to  treat  the  aspects  that  have  exerted  a  decided  influence 
upon  the  present.  That  has  been  the  plan  of  this  work. 
-;;T^  The  high  school,  considered  as  a  historical  product, 
derives  its  character  and  fonn  from  earlier  types  of 
secondary  education  found  in  the  state.  These  in  turn 
were  influenced  not  only  by  the  facts  of  the  general 
educational  history  of  the  state,  but  by  the  facts  of  the 
general  educational  history  of  the  entire  Northwest, — 
yes,  of  the  general  educational  history  of  the  nation. 
Indeed,  political,  social,  and  economic  factors  of  all  these 
regions  have  borne  with  more  or  less  direct  weight  upon 
every  recent  phase  of  the  special  subject. 
-y>  Hence  it  has  seemed  desirable,  first,  to  sketch  briefly  the 
entire  history  of  secondary  education  in  America  up  to 
the  settlement  of  the  Northwest  Territory;  then  to  narrow 
the  discussion  to  the  early  aspects  of  general  interest  to 
education  in  this  Northwest  Territory;  then  to  treat 
briefly  the  development  of  Michigan  as  a  territory  and  as 
a  state ;  and,  finally,  to  consider  the  course  of  public  sec- 
ondary education  in  the  state  during  the  seventy-nine 
years  it  has  been  a  member  of  the  Union. 

Current  pedagogical  theory  believes  pretty  thoroughly 
in  the  study  of  a  few  type  forms  in  order  to  derive  a  general 
knowledge  of  the  entire  related  field.  Data  are  too 
numerous  and  life  is  too  short  to  permit  of  an  exhaustive 
study  of  all  the  individual  units.  Thus  psychology  iso- 
lates a  few  individuals  and  studies  in  detail  their  char- 
acteristics and  modes  of  mental  reaction.  It  then  applies 
the  results  deduced  to  all  individuals  of  the  same  class. 


The  Introduction  mid  Preface  ix 

So  in  physiography,  instead  of  attempting  to  study  and 
plot  every  river  system  and  every  mountain  range,  one 
typical  river  system  and  one  typical  mountain  range 
serve  as  models.  Having  acquired  a  conceptual  acquaint- 
ance with  these,  all  other  systems  of  rivers  and  mountains 
are  interpretable  and  explainable. 

The  same  procedure  is  followed  in  zoology,  botany,  and 
in  fact  in  all  sciences.  The  same  principle  applies  in 
the  study  of  medicine  and  of  law;  of  literary  masterpieces; 
of  history  and  social  institutions;  of  schools  and  education. 

In  studying  the  history  of  public  secondary  education 
in  Michigan  one  is,  therefore,  in  reality  studying  the 
general  history  of  public  secondary  education  in  the 
entire  United  States.  The  system  of  Michigan  is  but-)^v 
a  type.  The  systems  of  the  other  states  differ  from  it 
in  details,  but  not  strikingly  in  fundamental  principles 
and  characteristics.  The  study  is,  in  fact,  a  treatment 
of  public  secondary  education  in  America  viewed  through 
the  lenses  of  Michigan's  history  and  Michigan's  current 
practices. 

In  preparing  the  early  portions  of  the  work,  namely. 
Chapters  I  to  IV  inclusive,  I  have  made  little  attempt 
at  original  research.  These  early  chapters  give  merely 
a  background  sketch  of  the  general  conditions  here  in 
America.  The  facts  were  taken  largely  from  standard 
secondary  sources,  though  verifications  of  statements 
were  often  made. 

As  the  work  narrowed,  soiu"ce  material  alone  was 
employed.  The  chapters  entitled  "The  Early  North- 
west" and  "Early  Michigan"  are  transition  chapters. 
They  are  based  chiefly  on  secondary  accounts  and  only 
slightly  on  primary  material.  The  real  work  of  original 
research  began  with  the  topics  relating  to  the  admission 
of  Michigan  into  the  Union  in  1837. 


X  The  Introduction  and  Preface 

For  the  history  of  the  period  from  1837  to  19 15  I  was 
forced  to  rely  pretty  largely  upon  Joint  State  Documents, 
House  Documents,  Senate  Documents,  Compiled  Laws, 
Revised  School  Laws,  Reports  of  the  Superintendents  of 
Public  Instruction,  reports  of  local  educational  author- 
ities to  the  state  authorities,  school  catalogues,  and 
similar  data.  While  I  have  endeavored  to  be  careful  and 
accurate  in  statement,  I  am  certain  that  the  data  upon 
which  conclusions  have  been  based  were  not  always 
dependable  themselves.  Many  figures  in  the  reports  of 
the  superintendents  of  public  instruction  were  obviously 
erroneous,  and  editing  alone  could  give  fair  approach 
to  the  real  facts.  Often  local  reports  were  not  regularly 
made  to  the  superintendent,  so  that  the  historical  study 
of  any  one  school  was  frequently  marred  with  breaks 
and  gaps  that  could  not  be  filled.  In  such  cases  nothing 
was  possible  except  to  omit  the  specific  consideration  at 
those  points,  and  to  pick  up  the  trail  where  it  next 
appeared. 

Much  of  the  material  that  fiu-nished  a  basis  for  the 
latter  portions  of  the  study  consisted  of  school  catalogues 
and  the  reports  of  individual  schools;  replies  to  a  general 
questionnaire  sent  by  the  writer  to  several  superintendents 
and  principals  in  the  schools  to-da}^;  personal  letters; 
and  personal  knowledge  gained  from  visits  to  many 
individual  schools  and  from  conversation  with  teachers 
and  administrators  in  them. 

I  wish  here  to  express  my  sincere  thanks  to  those  men — 
superintendents  and  principals  in  the  state — who  have 
so  courteously  and  willingly  aided  ine.  The  question- 
naire sent  to  many  of  them  called  for  no  superficial 
and  hurried  list  of  replies.  To  answer  it,  I  am  sure, 
must  have  encroached  upon  their  leisure  time.  Most 
of  those  who  answered  the  questions  at  all  seemed  to 


The  Introdiictian  and  Preface  xi 

appreciate  the  nature  of  the  request  and  replied  accord- 
ingly. Some  few  treated  the  request  indifferently,  and 
either  gave  indifferent  answers  that  were  of  little  value 
to  me,  or  else  did  not  respond  at  all.  On  the  vv^hole, 
though,  a  most  excellent  set  of  answers  was  received. 

I  wish  to  express  my  thanlis  to  Hon.  Luther  L.  Wright, 
formerly  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  of 
Michigan.  He  has  kindly  furnished  me  with  much 
printed  material  from  the  state  archives  and  has  given 
me  personal  suggestions.  I  also  wish  to  acknowledge  my 
indebtedness  to  Professor  Arthur  O.  Norton,  of  Wellesley 
College,  and  Professor  Henry  W.  Holmes,  of  Harvard 
University,  both  of  whom  have  read  portions  of  the 
manuscript  and  offered  valuable  suggestions. 

My  particular  and  especial  thanks  are,  however,  due 
to  Professor  Paul  H.  Hanus  of  Harvard  University,  imder 
whose  personal  direction  and  supervision  the  work  has 
been  undertaken  and  carried  to  completion.  He  has 
encouraged  me  in  my  efforts,  suggested  to  me  methods 
of  procedure  and  organization,  and  has  sympathetically 
read  and  criticized  my  manuscript.  I  give  to  him  my 
sincere  thanks. 

,,  .       .       .,,.,.  Calvin  O.  Davis 

University  oj  Michigan 

IQ16 


SOURCES   CONSULTED 


I. 


Brown,  The  Making  of  Our  Middle  Schools. 

2.  Dexter,  History  of  Education  in  the  United  States. 

3.  Boone,  Education  in  the  United  States. 

4.  Clews,  Educational  Legislation  and  Administration. 

5.  Hinsdale,  Documents  Illustrative  of  American  Edu- 

cational History. 

6.  Martin,  Evolution  of  the  Massachusetts  Public  School 

System. 

7.  Meriwether,  Our  Colonial  Curricidum. 

8.  Leach,  English  Schools  of  the  Reformation. 

9.  De  Montmorency,  Progress  of  Education  in  England. 

10.  Balfour,  Educational  Systems  in  Great  Britain  and 

Ireland. 

11.  DiLLAWAY,  History  of  the  Grammar  School  in  Roxhury. 

12.  Parker,  Sketch  of  the  History  of  the  Grammar  School 

in  Roxhury. 

13.  Butler,  Education  in  the  United  States. 

14.  The    American    Journal    of    Education     (numerous 

articles). 

15.  Reports    of    the    United    States    Commissioner    of 

Education. 

16.  Rice,  Public  School  System  in  the  United  States. 

17.  Adam,  Free  School  System  in  the  United  States. 

18.  Allen,  "Old  Academies"  (in  New  Englander  Maga- 

zine). 

19.  Johnson,  Old  Time  Schools  and  School  Books. 

20.  QuiNCY,  Municipal  History  of  Boston. 

21.  Jenks,  Boston  Latin  School. 

22.  Bush,  Early  Education  in  New  England. 

23.  Hough,  Constitutional  Provisions  in  Regard  to  Edu- 

cation. 


xu 


Sources  Consulted  xiii 

24.  Catalogue  of  the  Boston  Latin  School. 

25.  Mayo,  Public  Schools  during  Revolutionary  Times.  ^ 

26.  Mayo,  Education  in  the  Southern  States. 

27.  North  American  Review,  Vol.  122,  pp.  191-225. 

28.  HuLiNG,  American  High  School. 

29.  Chase,  History  of  Ohio. 

30.  Johnston,  History  of  the  United  States. 

31.  Hinsdale,  The  Old  Northwest. 

32.  McLaughlin,  History  of  the  American  Nation. 

33.  Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union. 

34.  Coggeshill,  System  of  Common  Schools  in  Ohio. 

35.  WooDBURN,  Higher  Education  in  Indiana. 

36.  WiLLARD,  History  of  Education  in  Illinois. 

37.  McLaughlin,  History  of  Higher  Education  in  Mich- 

igan. 

38.  Mayo,  Education  in  the  Northwest. 

39.  Lanman,  History  of  Michigan. 

40.  Cooley,  Political  History  of  Michigan. 

41.  Farmer,  History  of  Detroit. 

42.  Salmon,  Education  in  Michigan  during  the   Terri- 

torial Period. 

43.  Smith,  History  of  Education  in  Michigan. 

44.  Putnam,  Primary  and  Secondary  Education  in  Michi- 

gan. 

45.  Reports  of  Superintendents  of  Public  Instruction  of 

Michigan. 

46.  Campbell,  Outlines  of  the  Political  History  of  Mich- 

igan. 

47.  Bingham,  Michigan. 

48.  Howe,  Ohio. 

49.  Taylor,  Manual  of  Ohio  School  System. 

50.  Proceedings,   National    Educational    Association    for 

1885,  p.  195;  1891,  p.  677;  1899,  p.  412. 

51.  Frieze,  Early  History  of  Cleveland  High  School. 


xiv  Sources  Consulted 

$2.  Hurley,  Annals  of  American  Academy  of  Political 
and  Social  Science,  Sept.,  1896,  Vol.  8,  No.  2,  p.  120. 

53.  Hinsdale,  Schools  in  the  Western  Reserve. 

54.  Barnard,  American  Joimial  of  Education,  Vols.  5,  6, 

16,  17,  19,  24. 

55.  Knight,  Life  of  Colet. 

56.  LuPTON,   Life  of  Colet. 

57.  Barney,  Report  on  the  American  School  System. 

58.  Shearman,    Public  Instruction  and  School  Law  of 

Michigan. 

59.  Hinsdale,  History  of  the   University  of  Michigan. 

60.  Joint  Documents  of  the  Legislature  of  Michigan. 

61.  House   and   Senate   Reports   of   the   Legislature   of 

Michigan. 

62.  Revised  School  Laws  of  Michigan. 

63.  Reports  of  Superintendents  of  City  Public  Schools. 

64.  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections. 

65.  Circulars  and  bulletins  issued  by  the  State   Educa- 

tional Department. 

66.  Annual  catalogues  of  the  University  of  Michigan. 

67.  Annual  catalogues  of  numerous  city  and  town  school 

boards  and  school  superintendents. 

68.  Numerous  programs  of  studies  of  high  schools. 

69.  Report  of  the  State  Commission  on  Programs  of 

Study. 

70.  Report  of  the   Commission  of  the   North  Central 

Association  of  Colleges  and  Secondary  Schools. 

7 1 .  Replies  received  in  answer  to  a  general  questionnaire. 

72.  Private  letters. 

73.  Bradstreet's  Weekly. 


PUBLIC  SECONDARY 
EDUCATION 

CHAPTER  I 

The  Colonial  Latin  School 

WHEN  in  1629  and  1630  the  Puritan  fathers  began  the 
colonization  of  the  Massachusetts  coast,  they  set 
up  here  the  practices  and  the  institutions  of  the  old 
home,  modifying  them  only  so  much  as  was  necessary 
to  make  them  conform  to  the  ideals  and  exigencies 
demanded  by  the  new  life  in  America.  Thus  at  the 
outset  in  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  the  settlers  sought 
privately  to  give  their  children  the  rudiments  of  the 
English  language  and  the  elements  of  writing  and 
ciphering;  simultaneously  they  set  up,  publicly,  a  school 
of  higher  learning — the  town  Latin  or  grammar  school. 

As  the  name  implies,  the  school  aimed  to  give  youths 
a  training  in  Latin  grammar  and  literature,  and  thus  fit 
them  for  college.  But  its  ultimate  fvmction  was  to  equip 
them  for  public  service  in  either  church  positions  or  civil 
and  political  offices.  Such  a  school  was  established  in 
Boston  in  1635,  five  years  after  its  settlement — probably 
the  first  school  of  secondary  education  in  America.* 

It  is  time  the  Virginia  Company  and  the  West  India 
Company  had  each  made  provisions  for  founding  schools 
in  Anlerica  at  a  date  somewhat  earlier  than  163  5,  but  there 
seems  to  be  no  evidence  that  any  of  these  projected  plans 
were  ever  carried  into  execution.  It  is  quite  certain,  too, 
that  as  early  as  1633  there  was  a  school  established  in  New 

1  Brown,  The  Making  of  Our  Middle  Schools,  p.  34. 

2  I 


2  Public  Secondary  Education 

Amsterdam.^  This,  however,  was  not  a  real  public 
school,  nor  did  it  aim  to  give  secondary  education.  It 
was  purely  a  private  undertaking  and  a  school  of  an 
elementary  character. 

From  the  Massachusetts  Colony  then,  and  from  Boston 
in  particular,  dates  the  foundation  of  the  American  public 
schools  of  secondary  education.  The  Boston  Latin 
School  was  styled  a  "free  school,"  but  it  was  established 
and  supported  at  the  outset  not  by  the  whole  body  of 
legal  voters,  but  by  the  mutual  agreement  and  the 
volimtary  contributions  of  the  "richer  inhabitants"  of 
the  town.  Precisely  what  was  meant,  therefore,  by  the 
expression  "free  school"  has  been  a  question  of  much 
dispute.  It  is  certain  that  the  words  did  not,  in  colonial 
times,  denote  a  school  free  from  all  tuition  fees.  Indeed, 
such  fees  were  always  exacted  from  every  pupil,  save, 
perchance,  from  the  children  of  the  very  poorest  families. 
Nor  did  "free  school"  signify  a  school  maintained 
wholly  or  partially  by  public  taxation,  inasmuch  as,  at 
the  outset  at  least,  schools  were  not  thus  supported. 
Whatever  be  the  exact  import  of  the  words,  it  suffices  for 
our  purpose  to  bear  in  mind  that  a  "free  school"  in  colo- 
nial days  was  always  a  school  of  secondary  grade.  That 
is  to  say,  it  was  a  Latin  or  grammar  school. 

It  is  also  well  here  to  point  out  that  secondary  schools 
went  under  various  names  almost  down  to  our  own  day. 
Besides  grammar  schools  and  free  schools  they  were 
not  infrequently  referred  to  as  public  schools,  classical 
schools,  Latin-grammar  schools,  or  merely  Latin  schools  — 
all  these  expressions  being,  so  far  as  discoverable,  only 
provincialisms  or  localisms,  and  therefore  practically 
synonymous.  Before  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century 
nearly  all  the  colonies  possessed  Latin  schools;  but,  save 

1  Dexter,  History  of  Education  in  the  United  States,  p.  13. 


The  Colonial  Latin  School  3 

in  New  England,  these  were,  almost  without  exception, 
private  undertakings  privately  supported.  In  New  Eng- 
land this  was  not  the  case.  In  1636  Harvard  Univer- 
sity was  founded.  In  1642  the  General  Court  established 
a  precedent  by  enacting  a  general  school  law  which, 
though  of  little  force  at  the  time,  became  later  of  great 
historical  significance.^  In  1647  the  earHer  law  was 
strengthened  by  changing  the  permissive  features  into 
mandatory  provisions.  Instead  of  leaving  education  in 
the  hands  of  local  selectmen,  the  law  of  1647  explicitly 
required  every  town  of  fifty  families  to  maintain  an 
elementary  school,  and  likewise  every  town  of  one  hundred 
families  to  support  a  Latin  or  grammar  school.  The 
private  or  dame  schools  prepared  for  the  Latin  school; 
the  Latin  school  prepared  for  the  university;  the  imiver- 
sity  prepared  for  social  leadership  and  social  service. 

Here  then  was  the  beginning  in  America  of  a  school 
system  that  recognized  three  grades  of  instruction  and 
three  types  of  educational  institutions.  These  are  (i) 
the  elementary  or  primary  school;  (2)  the  secondary  or 
college  preparatory  school;  (3)  the  university  or  college. 
The  first  dealt  with  the  school  arts  and  the  tools  of 
education;  the  second  dealt  almost  wholly  with  Latin, 
with  slight  attention  to  Greek,  mathematics,  and  Eng- 
lish; the  last,  theoretically  at  least,  presented  the  sum 
total  of  higher  learning.  Massachusetts  thus  became  the 
mother  of  the  American  school  system.  Her  laws  and 
institutions  were  adopted,  with  more  or  less  change,  by 
most  of  the  other  colonies.  Wherever  she  led,  other 
colonies  followed.  Whenever  she  halted,  other  colonies 
lagged  behind.  Thus  matters  stood  well  beyond  Revolu- 
tionary days.     We  shall  in  subsequent  pages  return  to 

1  For  the  general  history  of  education  in  Massachusetts  see  Martin's  Evolution 
of  the  Massachusetts  Public  School  System. 


4  Public  Secondary  Education 

this  phase  of  our  study.  Meanwhile  a  more  analytical 
investigation  of  the  colonial  secondary  schools  will  be 
desirable. 

Historically  considered,  the  story  of  secondary  education 
in  America  falls  into  three  more  or  less  clearly  recognized 
divisions.  First  is  the  Colonial  Period,  with  its  Latin  or 
grammar  school;  second,  the  Middle  Period,  extending 
from  Revolutionary  days  down  to  the  time  of  the  Civil 
War,  in  which  period  the  characteristic  secondary  school 
was  the  academy;  and,  third,  the  Contemporary  Period, 
or  period  since  the  Civil  War,  with  the  pubUc  high  school 
as  the  typical  school  of  secondary  scope.  The  first  period 
imitates  closely  the  institutions,  ways,  and  ideas  of 
Europe;  the  last  period  is  typically  American;  while  the 
intervening  period  of  a  hundred  years  exhibits  the  char- 
acteristics of  both  the  other  periods,  being  largely  imita- 
tive in  the  earlier  years  and  gradually  developing  an 
independence  and  an  originality  of  its  own  in  later  times. 

From  the  very  first,  as  Dr.  Brown  conceives  the  situa- 
tion, there  were  thus  two  opposing  influences  affecting  the 
higher  life  of  the  people  of  America.  These  influences 
v/ere  a  tendency  to  and  spirit  of  imitation  and  an  equally 
strong  tendency  to  and  spirit  of  protest.^  Everywhere  in 
the  institutional  life  of  early  America  are  seen  the  effects 
of  these  mingling  forces,  but  perhaps  in  no  field  are  they 
more  noticeable  than  in  the  field  of  educa-tion  and  of 
educational  practices.  The  evidence  goes  to  show  that 
the  social  ideals  and  the  educational  practices  of  all 
western  Europe  exerted  considerable  indirect  influence  on 
the  American  colonists,  but  that  the  great  direct  stream 
of  formative  power  flowed  in  from  England,  Holland, 
Scotland,  and  Germany.  All  contributed  largely  to  the 
ideals  and  organization  of  American  elementary  schools, 

1  Brown,  op.  cit.,  p.  6. 


The  Colonial  Latin  Scltool  5 

but  the  great  prototypes  of  the  early  American  secondary 
school  were  the  English  Latin  or  grammar  schools.^ 
And  yet  the  Calvinistic  influences  common  in  England 
at  the  time,  and  more  especially  among  the  Puritans  who 
migrated  to  America,  served  here  to  modify  the  older 
types  from  the  outset.  Hence  from  their  very  birth  the 
American  Latin  schools  conformed  more  closely  to  the 
social  needs — or  to  the  ideals  conceived  to  be  social 
needs — of  the  new  settlements,  than  to  the  social  de- 
mands of  old  England. 

There  is  no  doubt,  too,  that  the  extensive  system  of 
schools  established  by  the  Jesuits  in  Europe  and  else- 
where had  an  indirect  influence  on  American  schools, 
but  since  the  territory  from  Maine  to  Florida  was  settled 
chiefly  by  Protestants,  and  largely  by  English  Protes- 
tants, and  since,  too,  Catholicism — and  consequently  the 
Jesuits — was  debarred  from  England  for  many  years, 
the  direct  influence  of  the  Jesuit  schools  was  indeed  small 
or  even  nil. 

In  consequence  of  this  natural  but  excessive  English 
influence,  the  first  schools  that  sprang  up  in  New  England 
took,  as  we  have  seen  above,  a  form  that  was  typical  at* 
home.  The  Boston  Latin  School  was  first  styled  a  "free 
school,"  but  was  voted  and  supported  not  by  the  town 
as  a  whole  but  by  the  "richer  inhabitants  thereof."" 
It  was  thus  a  purely  cooperative  undertaking, —  the 
members  voluntarily  agreeing  to  meet  the  expense 
of  the  school  by  voluntary  contributions.  Evidence 
seems  to  point,  however,  to  the  belief  that  children  of 

1  An  excellent  account  of  the  early  schools  of  England  is  found  in  Leach's  English 
Schools  of  the  Reformation.  For  later  schools  see  de  Montmorency's  Progress  of 
Education  in  England.  For  the  present-day  conditions  see  Balfour's  Educational 
Systems  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

2  Clews,  Educational  Legislation  and  Administration,  p.  6i.  For  accounts  of 
the  schools  of  Boston  see  Quincy's  Municipal  History  of  Boston;  Jenk's  Boston 
Latin  School;  early  catalogues  of  the  Boston  Latin  School;  Bush's  Early  Education 
in  Ncm  England;  Boone's  Education  in  the  L'yiited  Slates,  and  other  similar  writings. 


6  Public  Secondary  Education 

non-contributors  who  were  not  of  the  "richer"  class  were 
also  admitted  to  this  school.  Indeed,  this  may  be  the  true 
significance  of  the  expression  "free  school,"  though  there 
is  no  proof  of  the  theory.  Within  six  years,  however,  it 
is  certain  that  the  school  had  become  a  recognized  town 
school,  for  we  read  that  in  164 1  the  town  voted  to  devote 
to  the  partial  support  of  this  school  all  the  revenues 
accruing  from  the  rental  of  lands  on  Deer  Island.  Here 
then  was  another  important  step  in  the  history  of  educa- 
tion in  America, —  a  step  no  less  significant  than  the 
decision  to  establish  the  school  in  the  first  place.  This 
act  of  the  town  meeting  not  only  estabUshed  a  precedent 
for  Boston,  but  also  for  the  whole  of  Massachusetts  and 
America.  It  set  up  the  principle  that  schools  are  contrib- 
utory to  the  social  and  political  welfare  of  the  whole 
people,  and  that  the  establishment  and  support  of  schools 
is,  therefore,  a  legitimate  function  of  goveniment. 

During  the  succeeding  ten  years  Boston  voted  grants  of 
considerable  portions  of  land,  and  in  1660  these  local 
town  efforts  were  supplemented  by  a  grant  of  a  thousand 
acres  of  land  made  by  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts 
Colony  for  the  support  of  schools  in  Boston.  Though 
this  grant  was  not  the  first  made  by  the  General  Court 
(it  had  in  1659  voted  a  like  amount  of  land  to  each  of  the 
three  towns  of  Dorchester,  Charlestown,  and  Cambridge), 
it  served  to  strengthen  the  precedent  and  to  fix  per- 
manently in  our  governmental  policy  the  idea  that 
local  effort  of  great  social  importance  may  be  supported 
and  supplemented  by  funds  from  the  central  treasury. 
What  a  mighty  role  the  custom  thus  inaugurated  has 
played  in  the  history  of  education  in  the  United  States! 
What  vast  tracts  of  land  has  the  Federal  Government 
dedicated  to  schools  of  all  kinds  during  the  century  and  a 
quarter!    In  many  parts  of   America  the  elementary 


The  Colonial  Latin  School  7 

schools,  the  colleges,  and  the  agricultural  and  technical 
schools  owe  their  very  existence  to  the  generosity  of 
the  central  government  in  appropriating  lands  for  their 
foundation.  The  Massachusetts  law  of  1659  had  con- 
sequences more  far-reaching  than  the  uttermost  stretch 
of  the  imagination  of  the  time  could  have  comprehended. 
At  the  time,  too,  these  early  central  appropriations  must 
have  come  as  welcome  benefactions  to  the  struggling 
little  towns  whose  treasuries  were  being  drawn  upon  for 
so  many  other  needs.  It  is  not,  however,  imtil  1679^ 
that  the  Boston  records  make  mention  of  any  specific 
tax  being  levied  by  the  town  upon  the  town's  inhabitants 
for  school  purposes,  though  it  is  possible  such  tax  was 
raised  at  a  considerably  earlier  date. 

In  the  meantime  in  other  portions  of  IVIassachusetts 
Bay  Colony  other  grammar  schools  were  being  established. 
Within  the  short  period  of  sixteen  years  after  the  first 
extensive  settlements  in  Massachusetts  in  1629  eight  Latin 
schools  were  founded.  These  were:  Boston,  in  1635; 
Charlestown,  in  1636;  Ipswich,  in  1636;  Salem,  in  1637; 
Dorchester,  in  1639;  Newbury,  in  1639;  Cambridge,  in 
1643 ;  and  Roxbury,  in  1645.^  Each  of  these  was  a  school 
of  secondary  education,  and  the  aims,  scope,  and  instruc- 
tion given  in  all  were  almost  precisely  the  same  as  those  of 
the  Boston  school. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  organization,  administration, 
and  support  of  these  schools  varied  slightly  with  each 
town  in  accordance  and  harmony  with  the  good  old 
Anglo-Saxon  doctrine  of  local  self-government.  Indeed, 
throughout  the  whole  history  of  Massachusetts,  even  to 
the  present  day,  the  custom  has  prevailed  of  allowing 
local  or  individual  initiative  at  the  outset  to  take  its  own 


1  Dexter,  op.  cit.,  p.  26. 

2  Brown,  op.  cit.,  pp.  34-42. 


8  Public  Secondary  Education 

cxDurse  in  the  administration  and  execution  of  political  or 
civic  functions.  Then,  after  this  "cut  and  try"  method 
has  produced  a  fairly  acceptable  procedure,  and  other 
towns  and  communities,  likewise  experimenting,  have 
developed  a  kindred  method  or  standard,  the  state  has 
stepped  in  and  legitimatized  the  practices  by  incorporating 
into  a  permissive  law  the  common  and  salient  features  of 
all  the  local  regulations.  The  provisions  of  this  act  have 
later  been  extended,  optionally,  to  other  towns  of  similar 
rank  and,  finally,  when  the  great  majority  of  the  towns 
have  adopted  the  permissive  legislation,  the  state  has 
closed  the  gaps  by  making  the  law  mandatory  on  all  alike. 
This  has  been  the  general  course  of  the  history  of  education 
throughout  Massachusetts;  and,  since  many  of  the  other 
states  of  the  Union  have  copied  their  school  systems  and 
legislation  from  this  Commonwealth,  it  is  the  common 
practice  in  vogue  throughout  a  large  portion  of  the 
United  States.^  In  fact,  the  procedure  may  not  unjustly 
be  regarded  as  the  distinctive  feature  of  Anglo-Saxon 
governmental  practice. 

So  at  the  outset  of  our  colonial  history  each  town 
regulated  its  school  matters  as  it  saw  fit,  without  regard 
to  what  other  towns  were  doing — save  that  in  particular 
matters  there  was  a  more  or  less  conscious  imitation  of 
the  practices  thought  to  be  working  well  in  other  com- 
munities. Sometimes  the  peculiar  local  conditions  or 
temporary  needs  led  to  the  employment  of  new  and 
hitherto  imtried  methods.  In  the  earliest  days  school 
matters,  as  well  as  all  other  town  affairs,  were  discussed 
and  provided  for  by  the  whole  body  of  enfranchised 
citizens  of  the  town,  gathered  together  in  town  meeting. 
Then  when  the  town's  growth  made  the  town  meeting 

1  For  a  complete  elaboration  of  the  view  set  forth  above — 'especially  as  the 
I)ractice  has  affected  educational  history  in  Massachusetts — see  that  most  readable 
little  book,  Martin's  Evolution  of  the  Massachusetts  Public  School  System, 


The  Colonial  Latin  School  9 

unwieldy  and  inconvenient,  and  the  town's  affairs  were 
largely  turned  over  to  selectmen,  school  functions  were 
in  most  places  left  to  this  new  body.  Executive  duties, 
such  as  employing  the  teacher  and  overseeing  the  school's 
needs  and  the  school's  work,  led  soon  to  the  appointment, 
from  among  the  selectmen,  of  temporary  committees 
charged  with  these  specified  functions.  Inasmuch,  how- 
ever, as  these  or  similar  duties  recurred  annually  or 
oftener,  the  situation  gave  rise  to  permanent  school 
committees.  Ordinarily,  it  seems,  these  were  chosen  from 
among  the  selectmen  themselves,  but  sometimes  they  were 
selected  from  the  non-office-holding  class.  Particularly 
was  this  the  case  in  respect  to  school  visitation  and 
inspection — this  fimction,  until  early  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  being  performed  either  solely  by  the  Christian 
ministers  of  the  community  or  conjointly  by  them  and 
one  or  more  of  the  selectmen  or  the  school  committee. 

In  some  few  towns  at  an  early  date  special  officers  other 
than  the  selectmen  or  committee  of  the  selectm.en  were 
chosen  to  take  complete  charge  of  the  schools.  Dor- 
chester, Massachusetts,  probably  enjoys  the  distinction 
of  being  the  first  town  in  this  country  to  provide  such  a 
body.  In  1645  this  town  voted  in  town  meeting  "that 
three  able  and  sufficient  men  of  the  Plantation  shall  be 
chosen  to  be  wardens  or  overseers  of  the  school,  who  shall 
have  the  charge,  oversight,  and  ordering  thereof  and 
of  all  things  concerning  the  same."^  Dorchester  also 
claims  the  honor  (with  how  much  justice  documentary 
evidence  is  not  able  to  decide)  of  being  the  first  munici- 
pality in  the  world  to  support  a  public  school  "by  direct 
taxation  or  assessment  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  town."^ 

1  Town  records.    Sea  Brown,  op.  cii.,  p.  39. 

2  Brown,  ibid.,  quotes  this  from  the  "Dorchester  celebration,"  then  adds: 
"A  competent  public  commission  appointed  some  years  ago  in  Massachusetts  to 
set  at  rest  the  question  where  the  first  free  public  school  came  into  being,  was 
unable  to  arrive  at  any  final  answer,  for  lack  of  clear  documentary  evidence." 


lo  Public  Secondary  Education 

At  best,  the  accuracy  or  inaccuracy  of  the  boast  is  of 
httle  value  or  importance,  save  as  a  source  of  satisfaction 
to  local  pride.  The  important  point  to  note  is  that  from 
the  very  first  settlement  of  towns  in  New  England,  atten- 
tion was  given  to  founding  and  maintaining  schools  — 
many  of  them  of  secondary  grade  and  all  of  them  directly 
or  indirectly  supported  by  the  town  or  the  "better  part" 
thereof. 

As  above  indicated,  no  two  of  these  schools  were  or- 
ganized, administered,  or  supported  in  precisely  the  same 
way.  In  some  towns,  even  as  late  as  the  eighteenth 
century,  school  questions  were  decided  in  town  meet- 
ings by  the  qualified  voters  of  the  town.  In  others  the 
selectmen,  collectively,  controlled.  In  still  others  we  find 
committees  of  the  selectmen  or,  as  in  Dorchester,  special 
school  committees  who  had  complete  supervision  of  all 
school  matters. 

Likewise,  too,  in  respect  to  the  means  of  maintaining 
the  schools,  there  was  a  variety  of  sources  of  revenue. 
Tuition  fees  from  all  who  attended,  save  from  the  very 
poorest  children,  were  common  in  every  town.  Rentals 
from  public  properties  and  payments  for  public  monop- 
olies were  also  not  infrequent  or  insignificant  sources  of 
school  funds.  Among  these  were  revenues  from  lands, 
weirs,  fisheries,  and  markets  —  all  specifically  dedicated 
to  the  support  of  education.  In  addition,  many  gifts, 
bequests,  and  endowments  helped  often  to  swell  the 
funds,  and  after  1659  occasional  grants  from  the  colonial 
treasury  were  made. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  from  the  earliest  days  the  Puritan 
settlers  fostered  a  spirit  and  interest  in  education  which 
have  been  of  vital  importance  in  the  history  of  our 
country.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  this  interest  was  not 
directed   primarily   to   public   elementary   schools   and 


The  Colonial  Latin  School  ii 

education  so  much  as  it  was  to  public  secondary  schools. 
It  was  the  Latin  school  that  was  first  founded  in  Boston 
in  1635.  It  was  the  Latin  school  that  first  arose  in 
Charlestown,  Dorchester,  Roxbury,  and  the  other  New 
England  towns.  Nor  are  the  explanations  of  this  fact 
difficult  to  find.  They  are  discoverable  partly  in  the 
general  traditions  of  education  and  educational  institu- 
tions; partly  in  the  customs  immediately  current  in 
England  at  the  time  of  the  migrations  to  America;  and 
partly  in  the  character  of  the  settlers  themselves. 

In  all  times  and  among  all  peoples,  education  and 
literary  instruction  have  been  very  closely  bound  up  with 
religious  and  ecclesiastical  matters.^  Among  primitive 
men  the  shaman,  or  familiar,  acted  not  only  as  priest 
of  the  tribe  but  as  the  teacher  of  the  youth.  He  it  was 
who,  knowing  the  mysteries  of  life,  was  able  to  transmit 
them  to  the  adolescent  boys.  So,  too,  among  the  Ori- 
entals, the  Greeks,  and  the  Romans,  education  took  its 
rise  as  a  fimction  of  the  priesthood.  With  the  develop- 
ment of  Christianity  and  the  spread  of  churches,  the 
cathedral  and  the  monastic  schools  throughout  Christen- 
dom came  to  be  dominated  almost  solely  by  the  eccle- 
siastical authorities.  Schools  were,  therefore,  erected  and 
maintained  almost  completely  to  the  end  that  religion 
might  be  perpetuated,  the  powers  of  the  Church  enhanced, 
and  pious  and  godly  men  and  women  reared.  The  guide 
to  the  religious  life,  it  was  conceived,  was  the  Scriptures, 
and  since  these  for  a  thousand  years  had  been  locked 
up  in  the  Latin  language,  the  study  of  the  Latin  lan- 
guage and  literature  became  paramount.  Following  the 
enthusiastic  revival  of  study  in  the  Renaissance  and 
Himianistic  movements  of   the   fifteenth  and  sixteenth 

I  This  statement  and  the  following  are  based  on  the  more  common  views  of  the 
various  histories  of  education,  such  as  Brown's,  Monroe's,  Davidson's,  and  Laurie's. 


12  Pithlic  Secondary  Education 

centuries  there  was  added  to  the  Latin  a  study  of 
the  Greek  and  the  Hebrew  tongues.  The  end  and 
aim  of  literary  study  was  the  knowledge  of  Holy  Writ. 
The  means  to  this  knowledge  were  the  Latin  schools. 
Consequently  educational  traditions  and  educational 
practices  alike  tended  to  promote  this  type  of  school  in 
America. 

Finally  the  very  genius  and  spirit  of  the  early  colonists 
led  them  to  cherish  education  for  noble  ends.  Many  of 
the  settlers  of  Massachusetts  were  well  educated  gentle- 
men for  whom  the  highest  ideals  of  life  were  a  free  Church 
and  a  free  State  in  which  pious,  godly,  and  learned  men 
were  to  play  equal  and  active  parts.  They  had  come  to 
America  to  seek  to  realize  those  ideals,  and  the  first 
and  foremost  means  to  the  end  sought  was  the  public 
school — that  is  to  say,  the  Latin  or  grammar  school 
which  should  fit  the  youth  for  college.  The  ideal  evidently 
was  that  every  boy  in  the  colony  should  receive  a  college 
education.  Everywhere  among  the  early  political  and 
religious  documents  of  these  Puritans  one  finds  reference 
to  the  religious,  civil,  and  moral  aims  that  lay  at  the  basis 
of  all  activity  and  all  institutional  life.  For  example,  in 
the  annals  of  Roxbury  of  1645  one  reads:  "Whereas  the 
inhabitants  of  Roxbury,  in  consideration  of  their  religious 
care  of  posterity,  have  taken  into  consideration  how 
necessary  the  education  of  their  children  in  Literature  will 
be  to  fit  them  for  pubHc  service,  both  in  Church  and 
Commonvv^ealth,  in  succeeding  years.  They  therefore 
imanimously  have  consented  and  agreed  to  erect  a  free 
school  in  the  said  town  of  Roxbury."^  Again  and  again  in 
the  New  England  town  doctmients  do  we  find  repeated  the 
thought  that  life  is  best  lived  when  it  is  devoted  to  the 

^Annals  of  Roxbury,  quoted  by  Brown,  op.  cit.,  p.  40.  See  also  Dillaway's 
History  of  the  Grammar  School  in  Roxbury;  and  Parker's  Sketch  of  the  History  of  ike 
Grammar  School  in  Roxbury. 


The  Colonial  Latin  School  13 

Church  and  the  Commonwealth,  and  that  the  best 
preparation  for  such  a  Hfe  is  the  training  given  by  the 
Latin  school  and  college. 

Thus  motives  of  religious  and  public  service  dominated 
the  entire  life  of  the  times,  and  in  so  doing  set  the  ideals 
for  the  schools.  The  theoretical  and  ultimate  aims  and 
ideals  were,  therefore,  for  the  most  part  general  and 
primary;  but  the  immediate  and  practical  ends  were 
not  wholly  lacking.  For  example,  the  law  of  1642 
provided  that  the  various  towns  and  their  selectmen 
should,  among  other  duties,  see  that  there  was  furnished 
"learning  and  labor  and  other  emplo>rments  which  may 
be  profitable  to  the  Commonwealth."  So,  too,  in  1645, 
the  General  Court  decreed  that  boys  from  ten  to  sixteen 
years  of  age  should  be  trained  in  the  "art  and  practice  of 
arms" —  the  instruction  to  be  given  "by  some  one  of  the 
officers  of  the  band."  ^  Kindred,  too,  to  the  religious  and 
civil  motives  for  education  was  found  the  philanthropic 
and  missionary  motive.  Schools  were  to  be  open  free  of 
charge  to  the  poor  children  of  the  town,  and  express 
provision  was  also  made,  in  some  of  the  armals,  for  the 
gratuitous  instruction  of  Indian  youths. 

It  is  thus  to  be  observed  that  the  leading  motive  back 
of  all  efforts  to  establish  schools  was,  in  the  early  colonial 
times,  the  religious  motive.  It  determined  largely  the 
aim,  scope,  and  administration  of  all  educational  under- 
takings. Closely  allied  with  it,  however,  were  the  civic 
and  the  philanthropic  ideals.  Though  the  Renaissance 
and  the  Reformation  had  swept  over  Europe  more  than 
a  himdred  years  earlier,  there  was  still  left  in  Christendom 
much  of  the  old  spirit  of  medievalism.  Asceticism; 
rigidity  of  morals  and  manners;  unquestioning  faith 
witliin  the  somewhat  enlarged,  yet  still  narrow,  limits 

1  Clews,  op.  ciL,  p.  60. 


14  Public  Secondary  Education 

which  an  individualism  partially  enthroned  had  set;  the 
conceptions  of  the  words  "God"  and  "the  Bible"  as  the 
most  awful  that  the  mind  possessed;  the  view  which 
placed  the  real  goal  of  life  beyond  the  grave ;  the  contempt 
for  the  physical,  the  natural,  the  aesthetic,  because  of  the 
belief  that  these  are  evil  or  at  least  invite  to  evil; — all 
these  were  characteristics  of  the  fourteenth  century,  but 
they  are  also  characteristics  that  were  more  or  less 
prominent  in  New  England  in  the  early  years  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  To  the  people  of  that  day,  to 
live  at  all  was  a  most  serious  and  awful  affair;  to  live 
a  godly  life,  unselfishly  to  serve  one's  fellow  men 
through  the  state,  was  the  height  and  depth  of  human 
perfection  and  the  noblest  pursuit  the  individual  could 
follow. 

Hence  the  Christian  minister  took  social  rank  above  all 
others.  His  ideals  became  the  ideals  of  the  town;  his 
advice  became  the  accepted  creed  of  his  flock.  From  his 
exalted  station  he  was  regarded  as  ex  officio  a  member  of 
every  public  organization  and  every  administrative  body. 
Consequently  his  power  was  enormous,  and  he  exerted  it 
with  a  feeling  that  he  was  divinely  directed.  The  schools 
therefore  were  shaped  to  approximate  a  youth  to  the 
ministerial  ideal.  The  aim  was,  therefore,  at  least 
nominally  democratic,  in  that  it  was  hoped  and  expected 
that  every  boy  would  receive  a  thorough  education, —  that 
he  would  become  past-master  of  Latin,  and  perchance 
have  a  good  command  of  Greek  and  Hebrew. 

Nor  does  the  ambition  appear  so  strange  when  one 
recalls  that,  at  the  very  time  the  Puritans  v/ere  settling 
in  America,  ecclesiastical  and  civil  authority  and  lay 
influence  in  Europe  were  strenuously  seeking  to  preserve 
Latin  intact  as  the  universal  language.  It  was  at  this 
time  that  Comenius  brought  forth  his  Janua  lingiiarum 


The  Colonial  Latin  School  15 

reserata  and  promised  that  his  method  would  not  only 
enable  one  in  a  brief  period  to  conquer  fully  the  Latin 
language,  but  would  give  a  complete  and  full  compre- 
hension of  all  the  knowledge  of  the  world.  The  optimism 
and  egoism  of  the  teachers  and  the  educational  reformers 
of  the  age  knew  no  limits;  nor  is  it  strange  that  this 
peciiliar  infection  respecting  the  powers  of  the  schools, 
and  of  Latin  within  the  schools,  should  have  extended  to 
America.  The  Latin  school  was  indeed  regarded  as  the 
very  servant  of  the  Lord. 

Exactly  what  was  the  program  of  studies  in  these  early 
schools  is  not  determinable.  Certain  it  is,  however, 
that  the  ideals  were  to  teach  only  Latin  and  Greek  and 
Hebrew,  and  to  inculcate  precepts  and  habits  of  morals, 
manners,  and  religion.  If  other  and  more  elementary 
subjects  were  admitted,  it  was  to  make  them  serve  as  a 
foundation  for  the  advanced  subjects;  they  had  no  merit 
or  worth  in  their  own  right  or  name.  Theology  was  the 
noblest  branch  of  learning;  the  classics  were  the  way 
thereto. 

Dr.  Brown  thinks  that  the  most  representative  of  all 
the  English  grammar  schools,  and  therefore  the  one  that 
best  furnishes  the  ideal  of  our  colonial  Latin  schools,  was 
that  foimded  by  Dean  Colet  about  1508,^  and  known  as 
St.  Paul's  School,  London.^  Certain  it  is  that  there  was 
great  similarity  among  all  the  grammar  schools,  so  that 
a  study  of  one  of  them  ought  to  give  a  fairly  accurate 
notion  of  all.  Moreover,  the  first  master  of  St.  Paul's 
was  William  Lilly,  the  author  of  the  famous  Latin  gram- 
mar that  became  the  standard  authority  in  the  schools 
of  England  and  America.  It  is  therefore  very  probable 
that  the  work  in  the  early  colonial  schools  differed  Httle 

1  It  is  doubtful  whether  this  school  was  established  in  1508, 1509,  isio,  or  1512. 
See  Knight's  Life  of  Colet,  pp.  102-109. 

2  Brown,  op.  cit.,  p.  12. 


1 6  Public  Seco'udary  Education 

from  that  of  St.  Paul's.  Respecting  the  requirements 
of  admission  to  this  school  one  reads:  "If  your  childe 
can  rede  and  wryte  latyn  and  Englisshe  sufficiently  soo 
that  he  be  able  to  rede  and  wryte  his  owne  lessons,  then 
he  shal  be  admytted  imto  the  scole  for  a  scholar."  "If 
j'^our  childe  after  reasonable  season  proved  be  founde  here 
imapte  and  unable  to  lemynge,  than  ye  warned  thereof 
shal  take  hym  awaye,  that  he  occupye  not  here  rowme 
in  vayne."  "If  he  be  apte  to  leme,  ye  shal  be  content 
that  he  contynue  here  tyl  he  have  some  competent 
literatur."^ 

Respecting  the  subjects  to  be  taught,  the  accoimt 
continues  as  follows:  "I  would  that  they  [the  pupils] 
were  taught  all  way  in  good  literature  both  laten  and 
greke,  and  good  auctors  suych  as  have  the  veray  Romayne 
eliquence  joyned  withe  wisdome."  Later  follows  a  hst 
of  these  authors,  and  it  includes  both  the  classical  and 
the  Christian.  Unless  the  youth  had  a  fair  foundation 
in  the  rudiments  of  learning  (which  most  frequently 
was  apparently  not  the  case)  the  first  work  in  the  gram- 
mar school  consisted  of  a  study  of  the  alphabet  and  of 
simple  sentences  in  English,  and  the  memorizing  of  the 
catechism,  the  Psalms,  and  the  Testament.  Then  the 
study  of  Latin  was  begun  and  as  proficiency  in  this 
subject  increased,  attention  to  English  diminished.  The 
pupil  passed  successively  through  the  stages  of  acci- 
dence, grammar,  construing,  and  the  making  of  Latin 
letters,  verses,  declamations,  and  themes.  Then  fol- 
lowed the  study  of  the  selections  of  the  classical  litera- 
ture itself  —  the  works  of  .^sop,  Cassar,  Tully  (Cicero), 
Ovid,  Vergil,  Horace,  Eutropius,  Juvenal,  Persius, 
Terence,     Sallust,     Nepos,     Corderius,    and    Erasmus.^ 

1  Lupton,  Life  of  Colet,  Appendix  B. 

2  Meriwether,  Our  Colonial  Curriculum,  pp.  74  ff- 


The  Colonial  Latin  School  17 

These  and  others  furnished  the  literary  study,  while 
Priscian,  Donatus,  and  Lilly  were  the  standard  authorities 
in  grammar. 

All  texts  used  in  our  colonial  schools  were  brought  from 
England  imtil  Cheever's  Accidence  appeared  in  1644. 
This  then  became  the  stock  primer  of  Latin  for  the 
colonial  days. 

The  Accidence  was  a  little  book  of  scarcely  a  hun- 
dred pages  and,  as  the  name  implies,  served  as  a 
guide  and  introduction  to  the  rudiments  of  the  Latin 
language.  It  was  written  in  English  but  was  lacking 
in  all  illustrative  material,  both  for  etymology  and  for 
syntax.  To  master  it  was  a  dead  lift  of  the  memory. 
To  the  scriptural  injunction  of  presenting  "line  upon 
line,  precept  upon  precept"  was  added  the  massing  of 
fact  upon  fact,  and  exception  upon  exception.  No 
effort  was  made  to  elicit  the  spontaneous  interests  of 
the  boy,  or  to  make  the  abstract  text  connect  with 
the  realities  of  boy  life.  In  fact,  the  very  remoteness 
of  the  thought  from  the  worldly  matters  of  the  day,  the 
very  difficulties  that  were  involved  in  mastering  the 
language,  were  considered  to  be  proof  sufficient  of  the 
value  of  classical  study.  Cheever's  Accidence  became 
very  popular  and  was  used  in  the  schools  well  down 
into  the  nineteenth  century.  It  passed  through  eighteen 
editions,^  the  last  one  appearing  in  1838. 

Note.  The  various  editions  of  this  famous  textbook  differ 
somewhat  from  each  other  in  form  and  in  content.  The  earhest 
editions,  apparently,  were  the  smallest.  Those  now  in  the  Harvard 
Library  are  all  i2mo  volumes,  usually  containing  seventy- two 
pages.    One,  however,  has  eighty-five. 

1  Dexter,  op.  cit.,  p.  218.  I  have  found,  however,  in  the  Harvard  Library  a 
reprint  of  what  purports  to  be  a  twentieth  edition.  The  original  [it  is  claimed]  was 
publishea  at  Salem  by  Samuel  Hall  in  1685.  A  copy  of  the  edition  of  1838  is  also 
in  this  library,  but  the  title  page  declares  the  edition  was  "carefully  revised, 
corrected  and  stereotyped  from  the  I8th  edition."  It  does  not  claim  to  be  the 
eighteenth  edition. 


1 8  Public  Secondary  Education 

The  title  page  of  a  reprint  of  the  ninth  edition  reads  thus: 

A  Short 
Introduction 

TO  THE 

Latin  Tongue 
FOR  THE  Use  of  the  Lower  Forms 

IN  THE 

Latin  School 

being  the 
ACCIDENCE 

ABRIDG'd  and  COMPIL'd  IN  THAT  MOST  EASY  AND  ACCURATE  METHOD, 
WHEREIN  THE  FAMOUS  MR.  EZEKIEL  CHEEVER  TAUGHT  AND  WHICH 
HE  FOUND   MOST   ADVANTAGEOUS  FOR   SEVENTY   YEARS. 

THE  NINTH  EDITION,  TO  WHICH  IS  ADDED  A  CATALOGUE  OF  IRREG- 
ULAR   NOUNS    AND    VERBS    DISPOS'd    ALPHABETICALLY. 

BOSTON.  PRINTED  BY  KNEELAND  AND  ADAMS,  IN  MILK  STREET 
FOR  THOMAS  LEVERETT  IN  CORN  HILL  1 776. 

The  book  gives  four  pages  to  an  explanation  of  "Latin  Letters, 
Points,  etc.,"  and  then  treats  briefly  of  the  eight  fundamental 
parts  of  speech  in  order.  All  descriptive  matter  is  in  English 
throughout  the  book,  but  the  Latin  words  have  no  English  equiva- 
lents suggested.  A  sample  page  is  herewith  given.  It  is  page  12 
of  the  ninth  edition. 

THE  FOURTH   DECLENSION 

Nouns  of  the  Fourth  Declension  are  of  the  masculine  gender 
commonly  and  are  thus  declined 


SiNGULARITER 

Nom. 

hie  Grad- 

us 

Gen. 

Grad- 

us 

Dat. 

Grad- 

•ui 

Ace. 

Grad- 

■um 

Voc. 

Grad- 

•us 

Abl. 

Grad- 

•u 

Pluraliter 

Nom. 

Grad-us 

Gen. 

Grad-unm 

Dat. 

Grad-ibus 

Ace. 

Grad-us 

Voc. 

Grad-us 

Abl. 

Grad-ibus 

Some  few  nouns  of  the  Declension  have  the  Dative  and  Ablative 
Plural  in  ubus;  as  specus,  arcus,  artus,  tribus,  partus. 


The  Colonial  Latin  School  19 

Those  that  end  in  u  are  of  the  Neuter  Gender  and  not  declined 
in  the  singular  number;  but  in  the  Plural  Number  they  are  declined. 

SiNGULARITBR  PLUKALITER 

Hoc  Genu  Norn,  gen-ua 

Undeclined  Gen.  gen-um 

Dat.  gen-ibus 

Ace,  gen-ua 

Voc.  gen-ua 

Abl.  gen-ibus 

Lilly's  Grammar,  which  was  the  second  book  used  by 
most  Latin  students,  was  no  improvement  over  the 
Accidence.  In  fact,  the  difficulties  were  increased  rather 
than  diminished.  The  Accidence  was  written  in  English; 
Lilly's  Grammar  was  wholly  in  Latin,  and  required  a 
"frightful  burden  of  memorizing  page  upon  page"  of 
forms,  rules,  and  exceptions.  Nor  is  this  the  end.  The 
very  colloquial  use  of  English  was  forbidden  in  the  class- 
room, and  among  advanced  pupils  strenuous  efforts  were 
made  to  keep  the  youth  from  uttering  a  word  in  that 
language  at  any  time.  Needless  to  say,  this  ideal  was 
seldom  or  never  realized,  nor  was  it  so  truly  the  aim  in 
secondary  schools  as  in  the  college  and  the  imiversity. 

In  so  far  as  Greek  was  studied  at  all  in  the  secondary 
schools  its  pursuit  took  the  same  general  course  as  that 
of  Latin.  Greek  accidence,  grammar,  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment followed  in  order.  Then  came  portions  of  Plato, 
Demosthenes,  and  Isocrates,  together  with  some  effort 
at  Greek  composition.  This  task  was,  however,  gen- 
erally foimd  to  be  too  difficult,  and  the  time  at  one's  dis- 
posal too  short,  to  result  in  any  great  proficiency,  and 
in  few  schools  was  Greek  given  much  attention.  Josiah 
Quincy,  writing  in  pre-Revolutionary  days,  says  that  the 
knowledge  of  Greek  reqmred  for  admission  to  Harvard 
University  was  "slight  and  superficial"  and  consisted  of 
"Gloucester's  Greek  Grammar  and  ability  to  construe  the 


20  Public  Secondary  Education 

four  gospels."*  In  the  Boston  Latin  School,  he  adds, 
Xenophon   and   Homer   were   merely    "dipped   into."^ 

The  third  subject  of  emphasis  in  the  colonial  grammar 
schools  was  the  study  of  the  Bible  and  of  religion.  The 
instruction  in  this  field  consisted  of  the  catechism, 
reports  of  sermons  heard  on  Sunday,  attendance  on 
morning  and  evening  prayer,  and  the  committing  to 
memory  of  portions  of  Bible  history.  This  consumed 
much  time,  but  it  represents  only  the  formal  side  of 
religious  teaching.  The  very  atmosphere  of  the  school 
was  surcharged  with  the  religious  spirit.  Textbooks, — 
when  textbooks  became  common — fairly  oozed  religious 
thoughts.  Even  as  late  as  the  early  eighteenth  century, 
when  a  very  noticeable  secular  spirit  had  begun  to  come 
over  New  England,  this  obtrusive  religiosity  is  clearly 
seen.  At  that  time  appeared  a  little  book  containing 
"sentences  for  children"  and  intended  to  be  an  easier 
introduction  to  Latin.  In  this  text  on  a  single  "page 
of  thirty-five  lines  the  word  God  appears  28  times, 
not  counting  pronouns."^  Can  one  wonder  at  the 
rebellion  against  schooling  and  at  the  hypocrisy  and  the 
evasion  of  law  that  were  so  common  at  this  time?  Nor 
can  there  be  any  doubt  that  the  conditions  were  similar 
in  these  respects  in  the  early  seventeenth  century — or 
perhaps  were  even  more  extreme. 

These  Latin  schools,  as  before  stated,  aimed  chiefly 
to  prepare  youth  for  college  —  the  earliest  ones  having 
Harvard  College  as  their  dictating  mistress.  The  two 
types  of  institutions — the  college  and  the  grammar 
school — therefore  kept  step  together,  the  one  leading 
the  way  and  setting  the  pace  and  the  other  docilely 

1  Meriwether,  op.  cii.,  p.  102.  I 

2  Ibid.,  p.  103. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  77.     See  also  Am.  Jour,  of  Ed.,  Vol.  32,  p.  873. 


The  Colonial  Latin  School  21 

following.  Both  mirrored  the  thought  and  ambitions  of 
the  age,  and  as  these  were  narrow  and  restricted,  so  the 
program  of  studies  in  the  schools  was  confined  and  in- 
elastic. The  aim  and  scope  of  the  work  in  the  secondary- 
schools  can  well  be  seen  from  the  admission  requirements 
of  the  college.  The  requirements  of  Harv^ard  in  1642 
read  thus:  "When  any  scholar  is  able  to  understand 
Tully,  or  such  like  classical  Latin  author  extempore, 
and  make  and  speak  true  Latin  in  verse  and  prose,  suo 
ut  aiunt  marte;  and  decline  perfectly  the  paradigms  of 
nouns  and  verbs  in  the  Greek  tongue;  Let  him  then  and 
not  before  be  capable  of  admission  into  the  college."^ 
This  was  all.  The  ability  to  compose  Latin  and  Greek 
sentences  reasonably  well  was  the  sole  entrance  require- 
ment for  admission  to  college  and  the^  chief  aim  of  the 
grammar  school.  Indeed,  not  infrequently  the  require- 
ment in  Greek  was  waived  by  the  college,  and  in  conse- 
quence that  subject  was  more  and  more  neglected  by  the 
secondary  schools. 

Once  within  the  college  there  was  still  no  individ- 
ual freedom — no  choice  of  subject-matter.  Boys  were 
admonished  not  to  "use  the  mother-tongue  except  when 
specially  allowed  on  some  public  occasion." ^  Besides, 
the  course  was  entirely  prescribed  to  its  minutest  details 
and  was  most  narrow  in  scope  and  variety.  In  content, 
form,  and  method  the  work  differed  little  from  the 
pattern  of  medieval  scholasticism.  All  was  bookish  and 
dead,  nor  was  effort  made  to  embellish  or  enliven  it. 
In  order  to  show  in  its  fullness  the  literary  goal  of  the 
time  I  give  here  the  earliest  Harvard  schedule.  This 
is  the  work  outlined  in  1642  for  the  three  years' 
course. 

1  Josiah  Quincy,  History  of  Harvard,  Vol.  i,  p.  515;  also  Brown,  op.  cit.,  p.  128, 
quoting  from  Pierce,  History  of  Harvard  University,  Appendix,  pp.  48-49. 

2  Meriwether,  op.  cit.,  p.  53. 


22 


Public  Secondary  Education 


First 
Year's 
Class 


Second 
Year's 
Class 


< 


The  Earliest  Harvard  Schedule- 

Monday:     Logic,  Physics,  Disputes. 

Tuesday:     Logic,  Physics,  Disputes. 

Wednesday:  Greek  etymology,  syntax,  Precepts  of 
Grammar. 

Thursday:  Hebrew  grammar,  Bible  practice,  East- 
ern tongues. 

Friday:  Rhetoric,  declamations,^  meat  rhetoricis 
studiis. 

Saturday:  Divinity,  catechetical  commonplaces, 
History,  Nature  of  plants. 

(  Monday  and  Tuesday :     Ethics,  PoHtics  and  Disputes. 
Wednesday:     Greek  Prosidia  and  Dialectics,  Poesy, 

Nonnus,  Duport  "or  the  like." 
Thursday:     Chaldae,  Ezra  and  Daniel. 
Friday  and  Saturday:     Continuation,  respectively,  of 

first  year's  courses.  ^ 

Monday     and    Tuesday:       Arithmetic,     Geometry, 

Astronomy,     Disputes. 
Wednesday:     "Perfect    their    theory    and    exercise 

style,  Composition,  Imitation,   Epitome,  both  in 

prose  and  verse." 
Thursday:     Syriac,  Trastius,  New  Testament. 
Friday  and  Saturday:     Continuation,  respectively,  of 

earlier  courses.  ■* 

This  is  the  entire  program  of  study  of  the  only  college 
in  America  at  the  time.  It  is  top-heavy  with  dead 
language  and  padded  with  disputations  and  religious,  or 
quasi-religious,  hterary  material.  The  program  may 
have  contained  good  material  for  the  training  of  clergy- 
men, but  there  was  Httle  in  it  to  attract  others  than  this 
class.  What  wonder  that  boys  revolted!  What  wonder 
that  preparatory  schools  dwindled  in  attendance!  What 
wonder  that  towns  evaded  the  law  requiring  the  erection 
of  schools  whose  ways  led  only  to  this  goal!    What 

1  Meriwether,  op.  cit.,  p.  52. 

2  Once  monthly.  ^  ,       •       ^  i- 

3  Continuation  of  courses  given  on  Friday  and  Saturday  in  the  earlier  year. 
*  Continuation  of  courses  given  on  Friday  and  Saturday  in  the  earlier  years. 


Third 

Year's 

Class 


The  Colonial  Latin  School  23 

wonder  that  special  privileges  and  legal  exemptions  had 
to  be  offered  by  the  town  authorities  to  tempt  men  to 
engage  in  the  calling  of  grammar-school  teaching!  The 
secondary  school  of  the  day  was  out  of  time  with  the 
interests  of  life.  Three  times  before  1800  the  General 
Court  of  Massachusetts  increased  the  fine  on  towns  that 
neglected  to  maintain  a  Latin  school  according  to  law.^ 

Many  other  laws  less  drastic  in  nature  but  all  showing 
the  solicitude  of  the  lawmakers  for  the  perpetuation  of 
learning  were  likewise  enacted  during  this  period  previous 
to  the  Revolutionary  War.  For  example,  in  1652  the 
General  Court  gave  voice  to  this  fear:  "for  the  better 
discharge  of  our  trust  for  the  next  generation  and  so  to 
posterity,  seeing  that  the  first  families  do  wear  away 
apace  and  that  it  grows  more  and  more  difficult  to  fill 
places  of  most  eminence  as  they  are  empty  or  wanting; 
and  this  court  finding  by  manifest  experience  that  though 
the  number  of  scholars  at  our  college  doth  increase,  yet 
as  soon  as  they  grow  up  ready  for  public  use  they  leave 
the  cotmtry  and  seek  for  and  accept  employment  else- 
where, so  that  if  timely  provision  be  not  made  it  will 
tend  much  to  the  disparagement,  if  not  to  the  ruin  of  the 
Commonwealth.  It  is  therefore  ordered  and  hereby 
enacted  by  this  court  that  a  voluntary  collection  be 
commended  to  the  inhabitants  for  the  support  of  Harvard 
college."^ 

It  is  evident,  too,  that  private  bequests  and  gifts  for 
schools  were  decreasing  in  numbers  and  that  the  ftmds 
from  earlier  sources  of  this  kind  were  being  diverted,  for 
in  167 1  a  law  was  thought  necessary  "that  the  gifts  and 
legacies  given  to  college  or  schools  shall  be  truly  and 

1  In  167 1  the  fine  was  advanced  from  five  pounds  to  ten  pounds.  In  1683  it  was 
increased  to  twenty  pounds;  and  in  1718  to  thirty  pounds.  See  Hindsale's  Docu- 
ments, kept.  Secretary  of  Interior  for  1892-93,  Vol.  5.,  pt.  2.,  pp.  1232^. 

2  Hinsdale,  op.  cit.,  p.  1232. 


24  Public  Secondary  Education 

faithfully  disposed  of  according  to  the  true  and  declared 
intent  of  the  donors."^ 

Nevertheless  the  schools  declined  steadily,  until  it 
truly  seemed  that  the  fears  of  the  fathers  would  be 
realized,  and  that  learning  would  cease  to  exist  among 
them.  Nor  is  the  explanation  of  this  declension  difficult 
to  find — the  schools  no  longer  served  to  meet  social 
needs.  What  the  majority  of  parents  desired  was  an 
education  that  would  fit  their  children  in  more  practical 
ways  than  the  Latin  school  was  doing.  A  belief  gradually 
grew  up  that  a  rigidly  prescribed  classical  course  was  an 
expensive  luxury.  Indeed,  some  towns  were  even  more 
outspoken,  and  openly  complained  that  the  type  of  school 
required  by  law  actually  prevented  their  children  from 
getting  an  education.  What  was  wanted  was  a  school 
that  would  touch  daily  life — and  touch  it  in  more  than 
one  place.  The  existing  type  of  school  satisfied  few  of 
any  class.  For  the  well-to-do  whose  boys  desired  a 
thorough  preparation  for  college,  the  later  grammar 
schools  were  considered  inefficient  and  weak.  Few 
really  capable  teachers  of  Latin  and  Greek  were  procur- 
able—  especially  in  the  smaller  and  more  remote  towns. 
For  the  boys  who  had  no  college  ideal  ahead  of  them  the 
little  Latin  that  was  taught  in  the  schools  was  a  waste 
and  an  infringement  upon  time  that  could  be  better 
employed.  Consequently,  between  the  two  dissatisfied 
factions  the  public  grammar  school  was  in  serious  danger 
of  being  abandoned  altogether.  Only  the  law  with  its 
penalties  saved  it  from  this  fate,  and  at  best  it  enjoyed 
a  precarious  existence  during  the  rest  of  its  days — that 
is,  until  it  was  superseded  by  the  modern  high  school. 

In  the  meantime  the  majority  of  such  youths  as  sought 
admission  to  college  or  the  study  of  the  classics  as  merely 

1  Op.  cit.,  p.  1233. 


The  Colonial  Latin  School  25 

an  element  in  a  liberal  education  acquired  this  training 
(save  in  the  few  towns  in  which  efficient  Latin  schools 
were  still  maintained)  through  private  tutors,  or  in 
private  academies.  These  types  of  schools  will  be  dis- 
cussed later.  Suffice  it  to  say  here  that  they  served  a 
noble  mission  in  keeping  alive  the  spark  of  interest 
in  secondary  education  during  the  long  dark  period  of 
declension  of  the  public  secondary  schools. 

In  the  old  colonial  schools  the  school  day  was  long  and 
the  vacations  were  few  and  short.  At  the  outset  the 
school  was  expected  to  continue  almost  uninterruptedly 
six  days  in  the  week  during  the  full  twelve  months. 
The  daily  hours  were  from  nine  to  twelve  o'clock  in  the 
morning  and  from  two  to  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
Sundays  were  taken  up  with  attendance  on  religious 
services  during  a  goodly  portion  of  the  day.  Not  infre- 
quently other  than  Latin  students  were  admitted  to  the 
grammar  schools,  and  in  consequence  the  master  often 
employed  an  assistant  or  usher  to  aid  him.  In  this  case 
the  master  usually  taught  the  language  and  perhaps  the 
more  advanced  work  in  English,  while  the  usher  devoted 
his  time  to  the  yoimger  pupils  and  to  giving  instruction 
in  the  elements  of  learning. 

Salaries  were  small,  ranging  from  twenty  to  seventy 
pounds  a  year.  These  were  often  supplemented  by  fees 
or  presents  from  the  children,  by  the  allowance  of  a 
residence,  rent  free,  and  by  the  grant  of  a  garden  plot 
or  other  lands  by  the  towns.  The  frequent  mention 
made  in  the  old  chronicles  to  a  grant  of  twenty  pounds 
or  thirty  pounds  seems  to  indicate  that  these  salaries  were 
the  most  common  ones  paid.  Although  these  amounts 
in  colonial  days  had  a  purchasing  value  far  beyond  what 
they  would  have  to-day,  still  then,  as  now,  salaries  were 
grossly   inadequate   and   unjust.     This   fact   no   doubt 


26  Public  Secondary  Education 

accounts,  in  part,  for  the  small  number  of  men  who 
entered  this  vocation.  Moreover,  very  often  the  salary 
was  paid  not  in  cash  but  in  products  of  the  farms  or 
gardens,  though  this  was  a  common  practice  in  all  transac- 
tions in  those  days  and,  save  in  the  inconvenience,  worked 
no  hardship.  An  interesting  item  in  the  records  of  the 
Roxbury  school  for  1668  shows  that  the  master  was  to  be 
paid  for  his  services  twenty-five  pounds — "three  fourths 
in  Indian  com  and  peas  and  one  fourth  in  barley,  all  good 
and  merchantable  at  prices  current."  ^ 

The  number  of  pupils  who  attended  the  Latin  schools 
seems  to  have  varied  greatly  with  the  different  towns  and 
the  times.  Generally  five  or  ten  were  a  minimum,  wliile 
not  infrequently  the  number  reached  one  hundred.^  Girls 
were  not,  of  course,  admitted  to  the  study  of  the  real 
secondary  subjects,  and  generally  not  even  to  the  ele- 
mentary work  given  in  the  grammar  schools.  An  early 
record  of  Dorchester  shows  that  the  subject  of  co- 
education was  one  that  had  arisen  at  the  foimding  of 
its  school,  and  that  its  settlement  was  left  to  the  select- 
men, who  decided  adversely  to  the  girls.  It  was  almost 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  later, —  that  is,  in  1 784  —  that 
Dorchester  finally  gave  them  the  same  privileges  in 
secondary  education  as  the  boys.^  Even  then,  the  time 
in  which  they  might  attend  was  limited  to  the  simimer 
months. 

Some  other  towns,  it  is  true,  were  slightly  more  ad- 
vanced than  this,  for  from  an  early  date  they  allowed 
girls  to  attend  the  schools,  provided  there  was  accommo- 
dation for  them  without  in  any  way  interfering  with  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  boys.  However,  even  where 
girls  were  admitted,  in  most  cases  they  were  instructed 

1  Dillaway,  op.  cit.,  pp.  30-31. 

2  Brown,  op.  cit.,  p.  125. 

3  Dexter,  op,  cit.,  p.  426. 


The  Colonial  Latin  School  '    27 

in  classes  segregated  from  the  boys.  It  was  not,  in  fact, 
until  near  Revolutionary  times  that  girls  received  any 
but  tolerant  recognition  in  secondary  education.  Ports- 
mouth, New  Hampshire,  had  a  distinctively  girls'  school 
in  1773,  ^  and  Boston  accorded  girls  the  privilege  of  attend- 
ing the  boys'  school  in  1789, —  though  the  instruction 
was  given  separately. 

This,  then,  was  the  general  situation  of  secondary  edu- 
cation in  Massachusetts  down  to  the  close  of  the  colonial 
period.  Much  more  attention  has  been  given  in  this 
treatise  to  the  educational  history  of  this  colony  than  can, 
or  need,  be  given  to  any  other  colony.  This  has  been 
done  for  two  reasons:  first,  Massachusetts  is  the  mother 
of  secondary  education  in  many  other  portions  of  America, 
and,  secondly,  the  idea  of  pubUc  secondary  education  in 
America  at  this  period  found  almost  sole  support  in 
Massachusetts  and  the  neighboring  colonies. 

When  one  timis  to  the  early  history  of  the  Plymouth 
Colony  one  finds,  however,  that  there  attention  to  edu- 
cation was,  at  first,  slight  indeed.  It  was  not  tmtil 
1658, —  that  is,  thirty-eight  years  from  the  foimding  of 
settlements  here,  —  that  the  question  of  public  schools 
was  even  formally  considered.^  Even  then  the  General 
Court  only  suggested  that  towns  "ought"  to  erect  free 
schools.  Similar  efforts  were  made  in  1663,  but  without 
success.  In  1673  the  General  Court  voted  to  appropriate 
to  the  support  of  a  free  school,  if  erected,  the  proceeds 
derived  from  the  fisheries  "at  the  cape."  This  simi 
amoimted  to  thirty-three  pounds,  and  with  it  a  secondary 
or  Latin  school  was  opened.  In  1677,  towns  of  fifty 
families  were  authorized  to  erect  grammar  schools  and  to 
levy  a  tax  of  twelve  poimds  annually  upon  the  people  of 
the  town.     The  colony  was  to  distribute  funds  from  the 

1  Ibid.,  p.  427. 

2  Hinsdale,  op.  cit.,  pp.  1630  ff. 


28  Public  Secondary  Education 

fisheries  to  all  such  towns  as  accepted  the  provisions  of  the 
law,  and  the  remaining  support  was  to  come  by  volun- 
tary contributions  from  those  who  sent  children  to  the 
school.^  However,  the  Latin  school  did  not  flourish,  since 
its  work  was  even  more  out  of  harmony  with  the  life  of  the 
fishing  interests  here  than  it  was  with  the  more  varied 
ideals  found  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony.  Never- 
theless, when  the  two  colonies  later  became  merged  and 
the  school  laws  of  Massachusetts  were  extended  over  Ply- 
mouth, there  was  the  nominal  pretense,  at  least,  of  keep- 
ing up  the  schools,  but  with  very  barren  returns. 

The  early  history  of  secondary  education  in  the  Con- 
necticut and  New  Haven  colonies  is  a  close  dupHcate 
of  that  of  Massachusetts.^  The  records  show  that  Hart- 
ford voted  thirty  pounds  for  the  support  of  a  Latin  school 
in  1642,  but  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  school 
was  in  existence  earlier  than  this  date.  The  support 
of  the  school  was  to  be  secured  partly  from  public  funds 
and  partly  from  private  bequests.  This  was  the  same 
arrangement  many  towns  in  Massachusetts  had.  In  1650 
there  was  drawn  up  the  famous  Codification  of  the  Laws  of 
Connecticut.  In  principles  and  in  precepts  these  laws 
followed  very  closely  the  laws  of  Massachusetts.  What 
is  of  especial  interest  to  us,  however,  is  that  the  Massachu- 
setts school  law  of  1647  was  copied  into  the  Cormecticut 
Code  almost  in  toto  and  verbatim.  After  this  date  every 
town  of  one  hundred  famihes  was  required  to  maintain  a 
Latin  school.  In  this  the  elements  of  Latin  and  Greek 
were  to  be  taught,  and,  it  was  suggested,  also  the  begin- 
nings of  Hebrew.  Like  its  prototype,  this  law  also 
imposed  a  fine  upon  towns  that  failed  to  comply  with  its 
mandates.  But,  as  in  Massachusetts,  and  for  Hke  reasons, 
the  law  was  ignored  and  evaded.     From  time  to  time  the 

1  op.  cil.,  pp.  1630  #.;  also  Dexter,  op.  cit.,  p.  39- 

2  Brown,  op.  cit.,  pp.  44#.;  also  Hinsdale,  op.  cit.,  pp.  1245^. 


The  Colonial  Latin  School  29 

fine  here  was  increased,  and  more  strenuous  efforts  were 
made  to  secure  the  enforcement  of  the  law,  but  without 
much  real  success. 

Meanwhile,  in  1638,  New  Haven  was  founded,  and 
within  foiir  years  had  erected  a  Latin  school.  To  this 
school  Mr.  Ezekiel  Cheever  was  called  as  master.  Here 
he  remained  ten  or  twelve  years,  and  it  was  here  that  he 
brought  out  his  Accidence}  During  his  incumbency  the 
school  seems  to  have  flourished,  but  its  high  rank  was  not 
long  maintained.  It  is  very  probable,  indeed,  that  his 
departure  from  New  Haven  was  due,  in  part  at  least, 
to  the  indifference  and  the  lack  of  moral  support  accorded 
the  school  by  his  townsmen. 

Other  towns  in  the  colony  likewise  established  Latin 
schools,  but  the  early  enthusiasm  for  them  soon  cooled. 
In  1660  all  the  towns  abandoned  their  separate  under- 
takings and  imited  in  founding  a  "colony  grammar 
school." 2  This  school  endured  but  two  years.  At  that 
time,  in  1662,  the  New  Haven  Colony  was  absorbed  into 
the  Connecticut  Colony  and  came  tmder  her  laws.  From 
this  time  to  the  Revolution  the  history  of  secondary 
education  in  Connecticut  followed  the  same  precarious 
course  it  did  in  Massachusetts.  Moreover,  the  cur- 
riculum, the  administration,  the  textbooks,  the  methods, 
and  the  general  spirit  of  all  these  schools  are  so  similar 
as  to  call  for  no  specific  discussion  here.  The  point  to 
be  kept  in  mind  is  that  all  were  out  of  touch  with  social 
interests  and  social  needs,  and  all,  consequently,  gradually 
declined  near,  if  not  quite,  to  complete  disruption. 

In  Rhode   Island,   the  non-conformist  colony  of  the 

1  It  is  a  little  uncertain  when  Mr.  Cheever  first  began  to  teach  in  New  Haven. 
He  left  there,  however,  in  1650,  spent  the  next  twenty  years  in  Ipswich  and  Charles- 
town,  and  became  master  of  the  Boston  Latin  School  in  1670,  where  he  served 
continuously  for  thirty-eight  years.  He  died  in  oflSce  in  1 708,  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
four. 

2  Brown,  op.  cit.,  p.  45. 


3©  Public  Secondary  Education 

non-conformist  colonies,  there  seems  to  have  been  little 
unity  of  opinion  or  harmony  of  action.  The  educational 
data  are  few  indeed.  Apparently  no  attempt  was  made 
previous  to  1800  to  erect  a  system  of  public  secondary 
schools  within  that  territory.  In  that  year  each  town 
was  required  by  law  to  maintain  one  or  more  free  schools 
at  public  expense.^  Previous  to  this  time  all  education 
was  private. 

Of  the  other  New  England  States,  New  Hampshire  was 
a  part  of  Massachusetts  until  1680  and  therefore  has  no 
history  of  her  own  until  after  that  date.  By  that  time  the 
secondary  schools  had  practically  ceased  to  exist  save 
in  the  more  populous  and  wealthy  towns,  so  that  down 
through  colonial  times  New  Hampshire  may  be  truly  said 
to  have  had  no  real  public  secondary  schools.  Still  her 
laws  provided  for  such  schools,  and  in  name  they  did  exist. 

Maine  and  Vermont  likewise  have  no  history  of  their 
own  during  this  period,  and  may  be  omitted  from  con- 
sideration. 

In  the  middle  colonies  almost  no  thought  or  attention 
seems  to  have  been  given  to  secondary  education  during 
the  colonial  period.  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Dela- 
ware each  had  fairly  good  elementary  schools  at  an  early 
date,  but  all  were  supported  and  administered  by  the 
Church,  or  by  private  and  cooperative  effort.  The  first 
school  of  secondary  grade  in  New  York  —  at  least  the 
first  publicly  supported  secondary  school — did  not 
arise  imtil  1710.^  This  was  established  to  teach  Latin, 
Greek,  and  mathematics,  but  seems  not  to  have  had  much 
influence  or  permanency.^ 

In  Pennsylvania,  William  Penn  at   the  outset  gave 

*  Dexter,  op.  cit.,  pp.  51-52. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  77. 

3  Another  school  appears  to  have  been  established  in  1732,  which,  after  a  series 
of  changes,  is  thought  to  have  furnished  the  nucleus  from  which  Columbia  College 
sprang  in  1754. 


The  Colonial  Latin  School  31 

great  encouragement  to  education  and  to  schools,  but  in 
the  later  charters  not  so  idealistic  and  liberal  a  spirit  is 
shown.  However,  in  1689  the  Friends'  Public  School 
was  opened  in  Philadelphia.  In  1697  this  school  was 
chartered  as  the  WilHam  Perm  Charter  School.  It  was  a 
school  of  elementary  and  secondary  grade,  was  open  to 
youths  of  both  sexes,  and  was  to  be  free  to  those  who 
were  too  poor  to  pay  tuition.^  Later,  however,  this 
school  became  purely  a  sectarian  school,  its  organization 
and  administration  passing  entirely  out  of  the  hands  of 
public  officials.  It  still  holds  high  rank,  but  no  longer 
comes  within  the  scope  of  this  discussion. 

In  the  South  the  educational  efforts  have,  until  a 
comparatively  recent  day,  been  largely  directed  to  the 
establishment  and  support  of  church  or  private  schools. 
In  colonial  times,  few  indeed  were  the  attempts  made  to 
set  up  either  elementary  or  secondary  schools  at  public 
expense.  In  each  one  of  the  colonies  laws  were  passed 
from  time  to  time  encouraging  education,  but  all  laws 
pertaining  to  public  schools  were  permissive  in  character 
and  hence  produced  few  or  no  results.  In  all  parts  of 
the  South  appeared  from  time  to  time  grammar  schools 
endowed  by  wills,  grants,  and  gifts.  Many  of  these 
received  charters  from  the  provincial  government  and,  to 
this  extent,  became  quasi-public  schools.  Still  they 
are  not  of  the  same  character  as  the  Latin  school  of  New 
England,  and  scarcely  come  within  the  scope  of  a  treatise 
that  professes  to  deal  only  with  public  secondary  educa- 
tion. The  Virginia  legislature  had,  however,  in  1660, 
enacted  a  law  providing  for  a  "college  and  a  free  school," 
but  neither  institution  materialized.  Likewise  Maryland, 
by  law,  in  1696,  sought  to  establish  public  schools,  but 
nothing  came  of  the  effort. 

1  Brown,  op.  cit.,  pp.  54,  74;  also  Dexter,  op.  cit.,  p.  60. 


32  Public  Secondary  Education 

South  of  Virginia  there  were  no  schools  until  after 
1700!^  In  South  Carolina,  in  1701,  a  free  school  was  set 
up  in  Charleston.  This  was  founded  by  a  gift  of  money 
from  several  charitable  persons,  and  the  state  granted  it  a 
charter.  The  master  was  required  to  be  a  member  of  the 
Church  of  England  and  to  be  able  to  teach  Latin,  Greek, 
and  mathematics.  He  was  to  receive  an  income  of  one 
hundred  pounds  per  year  out  of  the  "public  treasury," 
the  balance  of  the  salary  being  made  up  by  fees.^  A  law 
of  1722  authorized  justices  to  "purchase  land,  erect  a 
free  school  in  each  county  and  precinct,  and  to  assess  the 
expenses  upon  the  lands  and  slaves  within  their  respective 
jurisdictions."  "At  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary 
War  South  Carolina  had  eleven  public  and  three  char- 
itable grammar  schools,  besides  eight  schools  of  a  private 
nature."^  These,  however,  seem  to  have  been  nearer 
the  type  of  the  old  academies  than  of  the  old  Latin  school. 
Nor  do  they  seem  to  have  been  public  secondary  schools 
in  the  sense  in  which  we  now  use  that  expression. 

In  North  Carolina  conditions  were  similar.  In  1745  a 
law  authorizing  the  erection  of  free  schools  was  passed, 
but,  as  its  provisions  v/ere  solely  permissive,  little  was 
accomplished.  Here,  as  in  other  parts  of  the  South, 
semi -religious,  semi-public  schools  arose  that  served  in 
place  of  grammar  schools,  but  which  in  reality  were 
varying  forms  of  the  old  academy. 

Reverting  to  Virginia,  one  finds  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary period,  that  is  in  1779,  a  most  comprehensive 
system  of  elementary,  secondary,  and  higher  education 
proposed  by  Thomas  Jefferson.  Nothing  came  of  his 
efforts  at  that  particular  time,  but  in  1796  his  ideas  were 

1  Dexter,  op.  cit.,  p.  67. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  69. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  70. 


The  Colonial  Latin  School  33 

embodied  into  law.  However,  since  this  act  was  per- 
missive and  not  at  all  mandatory,  Jefferson's  advanced, 
though  cumbrous,  ideas  were  never  put  into  practice. 

Thus  one  finds  that,  at  the  close  of  the  colonial  period, 
public  secondary  education  had,  from  Maine  to  Georgia, 
been  practically  abandoned.  Only  in  the  laws  of  Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut,  and  New  Hampshire  were  there 
found  mandatory  provisions  for  such  schools,  and,  as 
has  been  observed,  even  here  (save  in  the  larger  and 
more  law-abiding  towns)  there  was  no  semblance  of 
enforcement  of  them.  Elsewhere,  secondary  education 
was  being  given,  where  given  at  all,  privately,  by  ministers 
and  young  college  students,  or  in  the  semi-religious, 
quasi-private  endowed  schools  or  academies.  A  brief 
survey  of  the  work  done  in  these  institutions  will  be  the 
aim  of  the  following  chapter. 


CHAPTER  II 

The  Middle  Period 

THE  next  great  period  of  secondary  education  in  the 
United  States  covers  something  over  one  hundred 
years.  It  extends  from  late  pre-Revolutionary  days 
down  to,  or  beyond,  the  era  of  the  "Common  School 
Revival"  in  the  first  third  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Its  approximate  dates  may  be  fixed  as  1750  at  one  end 
of  the  span  and  1850  at  the  other.  It  is  an  important 
century  in  the  development  of  American  ideas,  character, 
and  institutions;  but  so  far  as  it  bears  directly  and  imme- 
diately on  the  development  of  free,  public,  secondary 
education  it  is  a  time  that  is  relatively  barren.  The 
dominant  school  of  the  age  was  the  academy,  and  this 
in  a  very  limited  and  general  way  only  may  be  regarded 
as  a  public  school.  Nevertheless  in  a  very  true  sense 
the  academies  did  serve  pubHc  educational  needs,  and  a 
complete  account  of  the  secondary  education  in  the 
United  States  could  not  be  given  without  making  con- 
siderable mention  of  them.  They  were  not  always 
supported  by  a  public  tax;  but  neither  were  the  public 
Latin  schools  during  all  their  history.  Their  adminis- 
tration was  not  imdertaken  by  elected  public  ofhcials; 
but  in  many  of  the  early  grammar  schools  the  control  was 
not  vested  in  a  body  of  men  elected  by  all  the  citizens. 
Tuition  fees  were  charged  in  most  academies ;  but  in  this 
respect,  too,  the  practice  differs  not  at  all  from  that  found 
in  the  earlier  schools.  Indeed,  in  many  ways  the  academy 
was  but  a  modified  type  of  the  Latin  school.  It  arose  in 
this  transformed  shape  to  fill  a  social  need,  and  it  filled  it. 

34 


The  Middle  Period  35 

We  have  seen  that  the  New  England  grammar  school 
had,  under  pressure  of  the  democratic,  secular,  and 
social  changes  and  demands  of  the  people,  gradually  lost 
its  hold  upon  society,  and  had  been  either  abolished 
entirely  or  else  converted  (in  fact,  if  not  always  in  name) 
into  an  elementary  school.  The  old  Latin  school  was, 
despite  its  original  aim,  aristocratic  in  nature.  It  served 
only  the  interest  of  those  who  had  before  them  a  rela- 
tively long  period  of  study,  and  whose  ultimate  vocation 
was  to  lie  in  the  professional  fields.  Six  years  in  the 
Latin  school  could  hardly  be  afforded  by  the  majority 
of  youths.  Even  six  years  spent  in  this  way  qualified 
one  neither  generally  nor  specifically  for  active  life,  imless 
the  grammar-school  course  was  supplemented  by  an 
additional  period  of  study  in  the  college.  The  new  social 
conditions  called  for  new  social  agencies,  and  especially 
for  schools  with  a  program  of  studies  of  greater  scope 
and  flexibility.  These  were  not  publicly  provided,  and 
consequently  people  secured  what  they  wanted  through 
other  channels. 

The  old  statutes  of  New  England  requiring  town  Latin 
schools  still  stood.  The  officials  often  sought  their 
perfect  enforcement,  though  few  changes  had  been  made 
in  the  laws  to  meet  the  changed  social  needs.  There 
was  a  wide  gulf  between  the  letter  of  the  law  and  the 
spirit  of  the  age,  but  few  legal  attempts  were  made  to 
close  it.  Nevertheless,  in  the  last  analysis,  it  is  free 
public  opinion  that  really  enforces  law  under  any  demo- 
cratic government.  Where  the  sentiments  of  a  people 
are  indifferent  or  opposed  to  legislation  of  a  particular 
kind  all  the  machinery  of  government  can  never  secure 
more  than  tacit  obedience  to  the  letter  of  the  law.  The 
spirit  will  be  broken  though  the  precept  be  enforced. 

This  was  the  case  in  New  England  over  a  considerable 


36  Public  Secondary  Education 

portion  of  the  history  of  its  grammar  schools.  Towns 
disobeyed  the  law  deliberately,  and  found  it  cheaper  to 
pay  the  specified  fine  than  to  keep  the  school.^  In  many 
instances  the  school  was  open  during  the  required  ntmiber 
of  months,  but  was  held  successively  in  different  sections 
of  the  town — a  brief  period  in  each.  Few  pupils  thus 
attended  regularly  for  more  than  a  few  weeks  at  a  time. 
The  emphasis  was  placed  not  on  the  study  of  Latin  and 
Greek  as  in  the  earlier  grammar  schools,  but  upon  the 
elementary  subjects.  Not  many  pupils,  in  fact,  had  any 
desire  or  inclination  for  the  classics.  Scholarship  de- 
clined. The  necessity  of  teaching  the  veriest  rudiments 
of  elementary  branches  made  grammar-school  teaching 
unattractive  to  most  college  graduates;  they  sought 
service  in  other  fields.  The  effect  on  the  schools  was 
natural.  As  in  the  realm  of  physics,  so  here,  action  and 
reaction  were  equal  and  opposite  in  direction.  There 
were  few  scholarly  teachers  in  the  schools  to  inspire  pupils 
to  advanced  study,  and,  conversely,  the  small  number 
of  reaUy  ambitious  pupils  made  the  calling  distasteful 
to  the  ambitious  young  men.  All  these  conditions  could 
but  accentuate  the  growing  weakness  of  the  grammar 
school  and  aid  in  its  decline. 

Still  there  were  famihes  that  looked  with  regret  upon 
the  disintegration  of  the  old  type  of  school.  The  col- 
leges continued  to  require  for  admission  the  old  inflexible 
Latin  preparation.  If  a  boy  were  to  enter  at  all,  he  needs 
must  obtain  this  preliminary  training  somewhere.  For 
a  time  this  need  was  met  by  the  private  tutor,  who  very 
often  was  the  minister  of  the  town,  or  some  young  col- 
lege man  who  gladly  accepted  the  invitation  to  earn  a 
few  shillings  during  his  vacation  periods  or  while  waiting 

1  See  Martin,  Evolution  of  the  Massachusetts  Public  School  SysUm,  for  a  full 
account  of  these  changes. 


The  Middle  Period  37 

to  get  established  in  his  profession.  But  the  demand 
steadily  increased  for  schools  that  should  do  this  work 
and  at  the  same  time  be  able  to  furnish  a  more  liberal 
course  of  instruction  in  the  English  branches  for  young 
men  whose  vocations  in  life  were  to  be  non-professional. 
Out  of  these  demands  arose  the  American  academy. 

The  first  institution  of  this  kind  and  name  in  America 
was  that  fathered  by  Benjamin  Franklin  in  Philadelphia. 
As  early  as  1743  his  practical  mind  had  formulated  the 
idea,  but  conditions  were  not  ripe  for  its  implanting.  Six 
years  later,  however,  his  hope  was  realized.  In  1749  the 
Academy  and  Charitable  School  of  Philadelphia  was 
foimded.  In  1753  it  was  incorporated  with  three  semi- 
distinct  departments, —  namely  the  Latin,  the  English, 
and  the  Mathematical.  Each  department  had  its  sep- 
arate master,  and,  contrary  to  Franklin's  wish,  the 
Latin  master  held  chief  rank.  The  school  was  endowed 
chiefly  by  private  contributions,  but  the  city  contributed 
out  of  the  general  treasury  two  hundred  poimds  the  first 
year  and  pledged  the  public  tax  for  one  hundred  pounds 
additional  each  year  for  five  years.  Here  the  public 
interest  ended.  The  control  of  the  school  was  vested  in  a 
body  of  trustees  selected  by  the  contributors,  and  this 
body  was  to  be  self-perpetuating.  The  school  was  open 
to  all  boys  on  equal  terms.  Its  aims  are  set  forth  in  the 
petition  presented  by  the  promoters  when  they  sought 
aid  from  the  city  government.     They  are  as  follows:^ 

1.  To  give  the  youth  an  opportunity  to  receive  a  good  education 
at  home,  where  not  only  a  considerable  expense  can  be  saved  but 
where  a  "stricter  eye"  can  be  kept  over  his  morals  by  his  friends 
and  relatives. 

2.  To  fit  a  niunber  of  young  men  for  the  magistracies  and  other 
public  ofSces  of  trust. 

1  Adapted  from  the  quotations  given  by  Brown,  The  Making  of  Our  Middle 
Schools,  p.  185. 


'  o  4  q  f^  -^ 

«c»  ±  ij  <J  A. 


38  Public  Secondary  Education 

3,  To  train  teachers  for  the  elementary  schools. 

4.  To  attract  students  to  Philadelphia  from  the  surrounding 
communities  and  thus  help  trade  and  business. 

"As  to  their  [the  pupils']  studies,  it  would  be  well  if  they  could 
be  taught  everything  that  is  useful,  and  everything  that  is  orna- 
mental. But  art  is  long  and  their  time  is  short.  It  is  therefore 
proposed  that  they  learn  those  things  that  are  likely  to  be  most 
useful  and  ornamental;  regard  being  had  to  the  several  professions 
for  which  they  are  intended."  1 

English  subjects  were  especially  emphasized.  Each 
pupil  was  taught  the  "three  R's,"  together  with  the  ele- 
ments of  grammar  and  composition,  geometry  and 
astronomy.  History  was  in  particular  favor,  and 
through  tliis  subject  it  was  expected  that  introduction 
would  be  given  to  "almost  all  kinds  of  useful  knowl- 
edge." Indeed,  "geography,  chronology,  ancient  cus- 
toms, oratory,  civil  government,  logic,  language,  and  even 
moraUty  and  religion  were  to  find  their  first  entrance 
into  the  attention  and  interest  of  the  students  through 
the  channel  of  history."^ 

Natural  history,  agriculture,  horticulture,  commerce, 
industry,  and  mechanics  were  also  to  be  taught.  The 
school  was  moreover  to  cultivate  "that  benignity  of 
mind  which  ...  is  the  foimdation  of  what  is  called 
good  breeding." 

In  1754  a  fourth  department  was  added  to  the  academy, 
— the  Philosophical.  In  1755  there  was  a  reorganization 
of  the  work,  and  henceforth  the  Latin  and  Philosophical 
departments  were  regarded  as  constituting  a  college, 
and  the  English  and  Mathematical  departments,  the 
academy.  The  school  was  highly  successful  from  the 
first.  Tradition  and  fashion  were  too  strong,  however, 
to  hold  the  Latin  and  the  Philosophical  departments  to 
the  new  ideals,  and  they  soon  went  their  own  superior 

1  Taken  from  Franklin's  sketch  of  a  plan,  as  quoted  by  Brown,  op.  oil.,  p.  180. 

2  Brown,  op.  cit.,  p.  181. 


The  Middle  Period  39 

way,  leaving  the  English  school  to  become  little  more 
than  an  appendage  to  the  classical  school. 

Here  then  is  seen  a  type  of  institution  that  was,  at 
the  outset,  distinctively  different  from  the  old  grammar 
school.  There  was  a  difference  in  aim,  scope,  support, 
control,  administration,  and  constituency.  Indeed,  the 
close  similarities  to  the  old  type  of  school  were  few  in 
number  and  difficult  to  discover.  The  old  aim  was  solely 
to  fit  for  college ;  the  new  was  to  equip  for  varied  vocations 
in  life.  The  old  curriciilum  was  limited  and  fixed;  the 
new  was  liberal,  and,  within  limits,  was  adapted  to 
individual  needs.  In  the  old  school  "Latin  probably 
constituted  nineteen  twentieths"  of  all  the  school  work.' 
In  the  new  academy  Latin  was  not  necessarily  studied  at 
all;  but  in  place  of  it,  or  alongside  of  it,  there  were  offered 
(at  least  in  theory)  the  elements  of  all  the  knowledge 
accessible  to  the  age.  The  Latin  school  was  supported, 
controlled,  and  administered  by  the  town;  the  academy 
was  subsidized  by  the  government,  but  was  directed  solely 
through  private  authority.  The  old  Latin  school  artic- 
ulated below  with  the  dame  school,  and  above  with  the 
college;  the  academy  articulated  with  the  home  and  with 
life.  Finally,  instead  of  drawing  its  pupils  almost  solely 
from  the  homes  of  the  wealthy,  the  cultured,  and  the 
professional  classes,  as  did  the  Latin  school,  the  academy 
enrolled  among  its  numbers  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the 
orthodox  and  the  heterodox,  the  sons  of  the  minister  and 
lawyer  and  the  sons  of  the  farmer  and  tradesman.  In 
short,  the  new  type  of  school  was  democratic  and  popular; 
the  old  type  was  aristocratic  and  impopular. 

Nevertheless,  with  the  rise  of  the  academy  the  old 
school  did  not  entirely  die  out.  In  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut,    and    New    Hampshire    the    statutes    still 

1  Ibid.,  p.  133. 


40  Public  Secondary  Edtication 

required  the  erection  and  maintenance  of  Latin  schools, 
but  after  1750  these  continued  to  decline  rapidly  and  to 
serve  fewer  and  fewer  community  needs.  It  is  true  that 
some  of  the  southern  states — particularly  Maryland  and 
South  Carolina — did,  after  this  date,  attempt  to  establish 
public  grammar  schools  modeled  on  the  laws  of  New 
England,  but  their  efforts  came  to  no  practical  end. 

From  1750  well  down  into  the  nineteenth  century 
the  academy  may  almost  be  said  to  have  furnished  the 
only  secondary  schooling  in  America.^  Every  section 
of  the  country — especially  after  the  Revolutionary  War 
— took  up  the  idea  with  enthusiasm.  In  New  England,^ 
the  movement  started  with  the  erection  of  the  Diim- 
mer  School  at  Newbury,  Massachusetts,  in  1761.  This 
school  was  founded  solely  by  private  endowment,  and 
was  a  close  approximation  to  the  old-time  Latin  school. 
It  was  not  supported  or  controlled  by  the  town,  but  its 
aims  and  scope  were  as  typically  narrow  as  those  of  the 
town  grammar  schools.  This  school  therefore  partakes 
of  the  nature  of  both  the  old  and  the  new  institutions, 
and  may  be  truly  regarded  as  the  expression  of  the  halting 
ideas  of  this  transition  period.  In  1782  the  school  was 
incorporated  and  was  transformed  in  fact,  as  well  as  in 
name,  into  the  Dummer  Academy. 

Meanwhile  a  truly  typical  academy  of  the  best  kind 
had  been  established  by  the  Phillips  family  at  Andover, 
Massachusetts.  This  was  in  1778,  in  the  very  midst 
of  the  Revolutionary  period.  In  1782  Phillips  Exeter 
Academy  was  founded  at  Exeter,  New  Hampshire.  Both 
became  models  for  other  communities  to  copy.  The 
aim  of  these  schools  was  set  forth  in  the  constitution  that 

1  For  a  good  account  of  this  whole  period  see  Mayo,  Public  Schools  during 
Revolutionary  Times. 

2  See  Allen,  "Old  Academies,"  as  published  in  the  New  Englander  Magazine, 
January,  1885. 


The  Middle  Period  41 

was  dra'^Ti  for  their  governance,  and  was,  indeed,  an 
admirable  one.  It  was  to  "lay  the  foundation  of  a  public 
free  school  or  academy  for  the  purpose  of  instructing  youth 
not  only  in  EngHsh  and  Latin  grammar,  writing,  arith- 
metic, and  those  sciences  which  they  are  commonly 
taught,  but  more  especially  to  learn  them  the  just  end  and 
real  business  of  living."  Hence  "the  first  and  principal 
object  of  the  institution  is  the  promotion  of  true  piety  and 
virtue;  the  second,  instruction  in  the  English,  Latin,  and 
Greek  languages,  together  with  writing,  arithmetic,  music, 
and  the  art  of  speaking;  the  third,  practical  geometry, 
logic,  and  geography;  and  foiirth,  such  other  liberal  arts 
and  sciences  or  languages  as  opportunity  and  ability  may 
hereafter  admit  or  as  the  trustees  shall  direct."^  The 
majority  of  the  trustees  were  not  to  be  residents  of  the 
town  in  which  the  school  was  located.  Pupils  were 
admitted  from  "all  quarters"  of  the  country,  and  the 
only  admission  requirement  was  the  abiUty  to  read 
English  well.  The  master  was  expected  "critically  and 
constantly  to  observe  the  variety  of  their  [pupils']  natural 
tempers  and  solicitously  endeavor  to  bring  them  under 
such  discipline  as  may  tend  most  effectively  to  promote 
their  own  satisfaction  and  the  happiness  of  others."^ 
Here  is  the  embodiment  in  concrete  form  of  the  new 
principle  and  the  new  spirit.  The  aim  is  first  to  make 
the  man  and  then  to  train  the  scholar.  The  gates  of  the 
school  are  thrown  open  wide  to  receive  any  who  wish  to 
come,  whatever  be  his  condition,  his  resources,  or  his 
aim.  Tuition  fees  there  are  indeed,  but  such  were 
required  in  every  Latin  school.  Besides,  in  comparison 
with  the  fees  demanded  in  the  old  type  of  school  the 
academy  fees  were  small. 

1  Constitution  of  Andover  Academy,  as  quoted  by  Dr.  Brown,  op.  cU.,  p.  195. 

2  Brown,  op.  cit.,  p.  198,  quoting  from  the  constitution. 


42  Public  Secondary  Education 

To  teach  the  value  of  righteousness  and  the  charm  of 
virtue;  to  induct  a  youth  into  the  literary  and  scientific 
wealth  of  the  race;  to  train  for  service  to  others  through 
self -activity  were  fundamental  principles  of  every  worthy 
academy.  In  such,  too,  the  first  efforts  in  the  American 
schools  were  made  to  discover  the  natural  bent  and 
capacity  of  the  pupil  and  to  graft  on  these.  With  the 
academies  begins  the  effort  to  discover  a  pupil  to  himself; 
to  fit  him  to  get  the  most  satisfaction  out  of  life  and  to 
put  the  most  service  into  it;  to  be  an  individual  with 
individual  tastes,  interests,  and  ideals  and  at  the  same 
time  to  be  an  active,  loyal,  efficient  member  of  the  social 
whole.  No  longer  is  the  aim  solely  to  elevate  the  few  to 
positions  of  comm.anding  dignity,  but  to  raise  the  many 
to  a  slightly  higher  plane.  No  longer  are  scholars  to  be 
cast  in  the  same  narrow  mold,  but  the  forms  are  to  be 
varied  in  shapes  and  sizes.  No  longer  is  a  Hberal  edu- 
cation to  be  synonymous  with  the  ability  to  imitate 
Cicero  or  to  peruse  Homer  in  original  Greek.  If  there 
still  is  no  royal  road  to  learning,  each  person  is  at  least 
permitted  to  hew  out  his  way  by  the  route  that  suits 
him  best.  From  this  time  forth  secondary  education 
in  the  United  States  was  never  synonymous  with  mere 
classical  study,  nor  did  its  coiirse  always  lead  ultimately 
and  inevitably  to  the  college  doors.  Latin  and  Greek 
continued  to  have  their  places  in  the  program  of  studies, 
and  for  a  long  time  hereafter  enjoyed  the  prestige  that 
comes  with  longevity  and  tradition,  but  they  never 
again  monopolized  the  field  as  in  the  pre-academy  days. 

For  a  time  after  the  academy  movement  started  the 
colleges  adliered  to  their  old  admission  requirements,  and 
sought  to  stem  the  tide.  Under  this  policy  Latin  in  the 
secondary  schools  became  a  "protected  industry,"  and 
its  study  was  pursued  by  all  whose  goal  was  the  imiversity. 


The  Middle  Period  43 

However,  the  rise  of  new  colleges,  built  on  the  foundation 
of  a  more  liberal  choice  of  subject-matter,  together  with 
the  accelerated  force  of  the  secondary  schools  themselves, 
gradually  broke  down  the  old  barriers  and  forced  the 
acceptance  of  the  modem  spirit  upon  the  conservative 
institutions. 

In  this  way  the  academies  served  the  welfare  of  pos- 
terity. In  this  way  much  of  the  progress  of  secondary 
education  has  been  made  in  the  past.  The  spirit  of  the 
age  was  opposed  to  maintaining  longer  at  public  expense 
a  secondary  school  of  the  old  type.  The  returns  on  the 
investment  did  not  justify  the  outlay.  Then,  when 
public  favor  in  all  kinds  of  education  was  waning,  the 
more  liberal  and  vital  work  of  the  academies  revived 
interest  in  secondary  schools  and  led,  in  time,  to  the 
reestabHshment  of  such  schools  as  a  function  of  the  state, 
to  be  supported  and  directed  by  the  state. 

There  were  few  schools  of  this  type  established  in 
America  previous  to  the  Revolutionary  War  —  either  in 
fact  or  in  name.  Those  that  did  exist  were  of  an  entirely 
different  character  from  those  of  later  days.  These  later 
ones  were  schools  of  general  culture.  The  earlier  ones 
were  not.  Those  founded  after  the  Revolutionary  War 
fitted  for  college  as  well  as  for  life.  Those  foimded  "pre- 
vious to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  centiu-y  had  no 
connection  with  preparation  for  college.  They  repre- 
sented the  intrusion  of  a  different  view  of  the  function  of 
the  school.     They  smacked  of  trade.  "^ 

It  is  seen,  therefore,  that  though  the  New  England 
grammar  school  had  woefully  declined  in  the  Northeast, 
and  that  previous  to  the  Revolution  no  colony  except 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  New  Hampshire  had 
any  kind  of  a  public  secondary  school  supported  by  the 

I  Brown,  op.  cit.,  p.  134. 


44  Public  Secondary  Education 

people  and  required  by  law,  still  secondary  education 
was  not  wholly  neglected.  "There  were  schools  of  many 
sorts  supported  by  the  Church,  by  colonial  legislative 
grants,  by  taxation  on  the  people,  by  private  corporations, 
by  associations  of  neighbors,  and  by  family  tutorship 
in  all  the  American  colonies  before  that  date,  but  in  no 
colony  beyond  the  Hudson  was  there  any  system."^ 

Some  grammar  schools  founded  in  South  Carolina  just 
previous  to  the  Revolution  are,  in  fact,  in  existence 
to-day,  and  constitute  a  part  of  the  public-school  system. 
For  example,  the  school  founded  by  the  Wenyaw  Indigo 
Society  in  1753  at  Georgetown,  South  Carolina,  is  a 
case  in  hand.  This  school  existed  for  many  years  as  a 
seminary,  then  declined,  and  as  late  as  1886  was  presented 
by  the  "club"  to  the  community  for  a  pubhc  graded 
school."  There  are  similar  cases  throughout  the  whole 
South.  However,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolutionary 
War  "there  were  probably  less  than  100  academies  or 
secondary  schools  of  real  importance  in  all  the  thirteen 
colonies.^  The  war  caused  many  of  these  to  suspend, 
and  some  ceased  to  exist  absolutely.  Still  education  went 
on.  Between  1776  and  1786  five  new  colleges  were 
founded  in  the  United  States,  and  from  1784  to  1796 
nine  others  were  established.'* 

Secondary  education  must  have  been  keeping  pace,  for 

1  U.S.  Com.  Reports,  1893-94,  Vol.  I.  p.  673. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  692. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  712. 

4  The  following,  taken  from  U.S.  Com.  Reports.  1908,  pp.  648  #.,  is  the  list  of 
colleges  founded  previous  to  1800,  together  with  their  dates  of  opening; 

1.  Harvard  (Mass.),  1638.     (Founded  in  1636.) 

2.  William  and  Mary  (Va.),  1693. 

3.  Yale  (Conn.).  1701. 

4.  University  ot  Pennsylvania,  1740. 

5.  Princeton  (N.J.),  1746. 

6.  Washington  and  Lee  (Va.),  1749. 

7.  Moravian  Seminary  and  College  for  Women  (Pa.),  1749- 

8.  Columbia  (N.Y.),  17S4. 

9.  Brown  (R.I.),  1746. 

10.  Rutgers  (N.J.),  1766. 

11.  Hampden-Sidney  (Va.),  1776. 

12.  Dickinson  College  (Pa.),  1783. 


The  Middle  Period  45 

colleges  cannot  thrive  unless  preparatory  schools  furnish 
them  a  body  of  students. 

With  the  conversion  of  colonies  into  states  diuing  the 
period  from  1776  to  1781,  constitutions  were  drawn  to 
serve  as  the  foundations  of  the  new  government.^  In 
these  frameworks  of  government  there  was  a  diversity  of 
treatment  respecting  education.^  Massachusetts  and 
New  Hampshire  gave  full  attention  to  the  subject  and 
provided  for  a  continuance  of  their  old  policies.  Con- 
necticut and  Rhode  Island  perpetuated,  through  their 
charters,  their  former  institutions  and  ideas, — Connec- 
ticut having  at  this  time,  thinks  Professor  Hinsdale, 
perhaps  the  best  educated  body  of  citizens  in  America. 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia, 
and  South  Carolina  made  no  mention  of  education 
in  their  first  constitutions.  Georgia  declared  education 
should  be  promoted.  Pennsylvania  provided  that  schools 
for  "the  poor"  should  be  established  by  the  legislatiu*e  as 
soon  as  convenient,  while  South  CaroHna  laid  down  the 
general  principle  that  "schools  should  be  estabHshed." 

Many  of  the  earHest  constitutions  were,  however, 
hastily  drawn,  and  proved  to  be  not  properly  adapted  to 
the  changed  social  and  political  needs.  In  consequence, 
soon  after  the  close  of  the  war  many  of  these  were  amended 

13.  Washington  College  (Md.),  1783. 

14.  University  of  Nashville  (Tenn.),  1785. 

15.  Western  tfniversity  of  Pennsylvania,  1786. 

16.  Annapolis  Naval  College,  1789. 

17.  College  of  Charleston  (S.C.),  1791. 

18.  Williams  (Mass.),  1793. 

19.  University  of  Tennessee,  1794. 

20.  Greenville  and  Tusculura  College  (Tenn.),  1794. 

21.  Bowdoin  College  (Me.).     (Founded  1794,  but  opened  1802.) 

22.  University  of  Carolina,  1795. 

23.  Union  College  (N.Y.),  1795. 

24.  Washington  College  (Tenn.),  1795. 

1  It  will  be  recalled  that  this  action  was  taken  by  all  the  colonies  save  Rhode 
Island  and  Connecticut.  These  states  continued  in  force  their  old  colonial  charters 
—  even  well  down  into  the  nineteenth  century. 

2  The  following  statements  are  adapted  from  an  article  on  the  "Constitutional 
Provisions  respecting  Education,"  in  the  American  Journal  of  Education,  Vol.  17, 
pp.  83  ff. 


46  Public  Secondary  Education 

and  revised.  In  these  new  drafts  education  received 
more  consideration. 

Moreover,  before  1812  five  new  states — Vermont, 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Ohio,  and  Louisiana — were  ad- 
mitted to  the  Union  on  an  equality  with  the  other  and 
older  states.  It  is  significant  to  note,  therefore,  that 
between  1783  and  18 12  ten  states  placed  educational 
provisions  in  their  constitutions.  Few  of  the  sections 
were  specific  and  definite,  but  they  at  least  laid  upon  the 
legislatures  the  duty  of  encotiraging  and  fostering  educa- 
tion and  schools,  and  in  so  doing  revealed  which  way 
public  opinion  was  moving.  From  18 12  to  the  present 
time  (save  in  the  constitution  of  Illinois,  drawn  in  18 18) 
no  new  or  revised  constitution  of  any  state  in  the  Union 
has  failed  to  contain  articles  or  sections  pertaining  to 
the  question  of  public  schools. 

There  is  nothing  in  these  constitutional  provisions  that 
bears  directly  upon  secondary  education;  but,  after  all, 
the  basis  for  all  such  later  public  schools  is  found  in  them. 
The  old  Latin  schools  were  planned  and  developed  from 
above.  They  grew  out  of  the  demands  of  a  real  or  ideal 
college  and  were  founded  to  furnish  a  student  body  to 
the  higher  institutions  of  learning.  The  academies 
were  fundamentally  and  essentially  independent  of, 
and  detached  from,  all  other  schools — above  or  below. 
They  existed  by  virtue  of  their  own  right  and  merit. 
The  later  secondary  schools  of  a  public  nature,  —  that 
is,  the  public  high  schools, — in  general  developed  from  be- 
low, and  in  most  states  owe  their  very  existence  to  the 
constitutional  provisions  relating  to  common  schools. 
Hence  there  is  a  deep  significance  and  an  auspicious  fore- 
shadowing in  the  educational  provisions  found  in  both 
the  earlier  and  the  later  constitutions  of  our  states. 

Supplementing  the  action  of  the  various  states,  the  old 


The  Middle  Period  47 

Confederate  Congress  lent  its  influence  to  the  encourage- 
ment of  education.  The  Land  Ordinance  of  1 7  8  5  provided 
that  the  sixteenth  section  of  every  township  of  land  ceded 
by  the  individual  states  to  the  United  States  should  be 
reserved  and  rededicated  by  the  central  government  for 
the  support  of  public  schools.^  Two  years  later  the  same 
body  further  immortalized  itself  by  passing  the  famous 
Ordinance  of  1787.  The  crowning  sentence  of  this  act 
reads:  "Religion,  morality,  and  knowledge  being  neces- 
sary to  good  government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind, 
schools  and  the  means  of  education  shall  forever  be 
encouraged."  The  United  States  government  has  never 
departed  from  the  principles  enunciated  in  this  Ordinance. 

In  1787,  when  at  Marietta,  Ohio,  the  first  settlement 
in  the  Northwest  was  made,  the  town  was  given  a  sum 
of  two  hundred  dollars  for  the  support  of  schools  and  a 
minister.^  This  amoimt,  it  is  true,  was  not  paid  directly 
by  the  government  but  by  Mannaseh  Cutler  who,  at  the 
time,  was  the  chief  intermediary  between  the  central 
authority  and  the  pioneers  of  the  Northwest. 

When  Ohio  was  admitted  to  the  Union  in  1803,  Con- 
gress straightway  dedicated  the  sixteenth  section  of  every 
township  to  the  inhabitants  of  that  township  for  school 
purposes.  When  in  18 18  Illinois  was  made  a  state  this 
policy  was  slightly  modified,  so  that  the  sixteenth  section 
was  given  not  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  township  but  to 
the  state  at  large,  to  be  used,  however,  only  for  schools  in 
the  particular  townships  in  which  the  designated  sections 
of  land  were  located.  On  the  entrance  of  Michigan  into 
the  Union  in  1837  a  third  and  final  change  was  made  in 
the  method  of  distributing  school  lands.  Now  they  were 
granted  collectively  to  the  state  as  a  whole  for  the  "use 

1  Hinsdale,  Documents,  p.  1269. 

2  Dexter,  History  of  Education  in  the  United  States,  p.  104. 


48  Public  Secondary  Ediication 

of  schools"  in  the  state  as  a  whole.  This  practice  has 
ever  since  been  followed.^ 

Common  schools — that  is  to  say,  elementary  schools — 
under  governmental  support  and  control  began,  therefore, 
to  develop  in  every  part  of  the  Union  shortly  subsequent 
to  the  Revolutionary  period.  The  efforts  that  formerly 
had  been  centered  on  public  secondary  education  were 
now  transferred  to  the  lower  grade  of  schools,  while  in  the 
old  field  the  academies  dominated  almost  exclusively. 
Thus,  from  1790  to  1840  the  two  central  agencies  in 
popular  education  were  the  district  school  on  the  one  hand 
and  the  endowed  academy  on  the  other. 

In  no  complete  and  perfect  sense,  of  course,  was  any 
one  of  the  academies  a  true  public  school.  Nevertheless 
they  pretty  largely  took  the  place  of  the  pubHc  secondary 
school,  and  the  government  in  several  states  made  some 
financial  provision  for  their  maintenance.  Instead  of 
contributing  annually  toward  the  support  of  education, 
as  the  states  do  to-day,  the  policy  during  the  period  under 
immediate  consideration  was  not  infrequently  to  subsidize 
the  academies  by  paying  over  to  them,  once  for  all,  a 
lump  sum.  Not  every  private  or  local  venture,  of  course, 
obtained  such  governmental  grants,  the  general  condition 
of  receiving  them  being  that  the  town,  coimty,  corporation, 
or  other  responsible  organizers  should  first  raise,  as  a 
permanent  endowment  fund,  a  simi  at  least  equal  to  that 
solicited  from  the  central  government. 

So  far  as  the  national  and  state  government  did,  how- 
ever, subsidize  these  schools  they  did  it  chiefly  through 
land  grants.  Having  done  this  the  governments  "received 
their  applause  and  withdrew  from  the  stage."  Respect- 
ing the  administration  of  the  schools  thus  aided  the  states 
"asked  few  questions  and  imposed  few  conditions." 

1  Hinsdale,  op.  cU.,  p.  1271. 


The  Middle  Period  49 

In  New  England  during  this  period  the  academy  and 
the  town  grammar  school  existed  side  by  side.  In  1789 
Massachusetts  enacted  a  new  law  requiring  towns  of 
two  hundred  families  to  support  a  "grammar  master  of 
good  morals,  well  instructed  in  the  Latin,  Greek,  and 
English  languages."  Respecting  the  attendance  the 
law  further  provided  that  "no  youth  shall  be  sent  to 
such  grammar  school  unless  they  shall  have  learned  in 
some  other  school  or  in  some  other  way  to  read  the  Eng- 
lish language  by  spelling  the  same,  or  the  selectmen  of 
the  town  where  such  grammar  school  is  shall  direct  the 
grammar-school  master  to  receive  and  instruct  such 
youth."  "All  instructors  of  youth"  were  "to  take 
diligent  care  and  to  exert  their  best  endeavors  to  impress 
on  the  mind  of  the  children  and  youth  committed  to  their 
care  and  instruction  the  principles  of  piety,  justice,  and 
sacred  regard  for  truth,  love  for  their  country,  humanity 
and  universal  benevolence,  sobriety,  industry  and  fru- 
gality, chastity,  moderation,  and  temperance,  and  those 
other  virtues  which  are  the  ornaments  of  human  society 
and  the  basis  upon  which  the  repubHcan  constitution  is 
structured."  Only  college  graduates  or  those  presenting 
certificates  "from  a  learned  minister  well  skilled  in  the 
Greek  and  Latin  languages,  settled  in  the  town  where  the 
school  is  proposed  to  be  kept,  or  two  other  such  ministers 
in  the  vicinity  thereof,"^  shall  be  permitted  to  teach  in 
the  grammar  school. 

This  law  reveals  the  fact  that  though  the  statute  might 
regard  the  grammar  school  as  a  school  of  secondary  or 
superior  type,  as  a  matter  of  history  such  schools  in 
Massachusetts  in  1789  were  of  a  very  elementary  grade. 
The  law  also  shows  the  hold  the  clergy  still  had  upon  the 
administration  of  secondary  education  at  the  time,  and 

1  Ibid.,  pp.  1236  #. 

5 


so  Public  Secondary  Education 

the  religious,  moral,  and  civil  ideals  that  entered,  avowedly 
and  specifically,  into  the  spirit  of  the  institution.  The 
curriculum  was  indeed  narrow,  but  it  included  vastly 
more  than  the  classics  —  it  included  the  philosophical 
principles  of  life. 

Eight  years  later,  in  1797,  Massachusetts  openly 
avowed  her  poUcy  of  subsidizing  privately  initiated  or 
locally  established  academies.  By  doing  this  she,  at 
first  sight,  seems  to  have  been  building  up  in  the  state 
two  mutually  antagonistic  systems  of  secondary  schools, 
but  in  reality  the  academy  and  the  grammar  school  simply 
supplemented  the  work  of  each  other. 

The  conditions  in  the  other  New  England  states  at  this 
time  were  similar.  For  example,  after  1798,  in  Connecti- 
cut the  Latin  school  was  no  longer  legally  compulsory, 
but  any  town,  or  portion  of  a  town,  or  portions  of  two 
or  more  towns,  could  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  inhabi- 
tants thereof  establish  a  high  school  in  which  the  English 
branches,  together  with  Latin  and  Greek,  might  be  taught.^ 

In  New  York  as  early  as  1787  power  was  given  the 
legislature  to  charter  academies,  and  in  1790  the  "litera- 
ture fund"  was  created  which,  from  that  day  to  this,  has 
annually  furnished  state  aid  to  institutions  of  secondary 
education. 

In  Virginia  as  early  as  1780  the  legislature  set  aside, 
in  what  is  now  Kentucky,  eight  thousand  acres  of  land 
for  an  academy.  Before  1800  there  were  thirty  academies 
in  that  state, ^  each  being  given  six  thousand  acres  of 
land  and  the  right  to  raise  one  thousand  dollars  in  cash 
by  means  of  lotteries.  Similar  generosity  was  shown  to 
the  academies  by  the  other  southern  and  western  states. 
It  is  computed  that  by  1830  there  were  in  the  United 

1  Hinsdale,  op.  cil.,  p.  1252. 

2  Dexter,  op.  cit.,  p.  126. 


The  Middle  Period 


SI 


States  approximately  950  incorporated  academies  of  the 
better  type.  How  many  there  were  unincorporated  and 
of  only  a  brief  span  of  life  there  is  no  way  of  determining. 
The  incorporated  schools  were  distributed  as  follows:^ 


State  No. 

Maine 32 

New  Hampshire 30 

Vermont 35 

Massachusetts 83 

Rhode  Island 2 

Connecticut 14 

New  York 57 

New  Jersey 7 


State  No. 

Pennsylvania 92 

Delaware i 

Maryland 69 

Virginia 55 

North  Carolina 196 

South  Carolina 32 

Georgia 2 

The  West 233 


Total 950 

By  1850  the  number  of  academies  in  the  United  States 
had  increased  to  6,085.^  These  varied  widely  in  numbers 
of  teachers,  pupils,  and  resources.  They  also  differed 
from  one  another  very  markedly  in  worth  and  dignity, — 
some  being  merely  ephemeral  and  local  in  character, 
while  others  were  strong,  healthy,  and  widely  influential 
The  foUov/ing  table  shows  their  status  in  1850.^ 


State 


No.    OF 
ACADAMIES 


No.  OF        No.  OF  Annual  Approx- 
Teachers    Pupils    imate  Income 


Alabama 166 

Arkansas 90 

California 6 

Columbia,  Dist.  of 47 

Connecticut 202 

Delaware 65 

Florida 34 

Georgia 219 

Illinois 83 

Indiana 131 

Iowa 33 

Kentucky 330 

Louisiana 143 

Maine 131 

Maryland 223 

Massachusetts 403 

Michigan 37 

Minnesota I 

1  Hinsdale,  op.  cil.,  pp.  1252  ff. 

2  Dexter,  op.  ciL,  pp.  94  #. 


380 

126 

6 

126 

329 

94 

49 

318 

160 

233 

46 

600 

354 
232 

503 
521 

71 
I 


8,290 

2,407 

170 

2,333 

6,996 

2,011 

1,251 

9,059 

4,244 

6,185 

1,111 

12,712 

5,328 

6,648 

10,787 

13.436 

1,619 

12 


224,279 
34,308 
20,392 
84,040 

152,120 
53,498 
22,742 

184,849 
47,678 

73,219 

11,180 
306,507 
283,003 

64,966 
239,083 
354.521 

31,953 


52  Public  Secondary  Education 

Statb  No.  of       No.  of        No.  of  Annual  Approx- 

AcADEMiES    Teachers    Pupils     imate  Income 

Mississippi 171  297  6,628  $144,732 

Missouri 204  368  8,829  183,403 

New  Hampshire 107  183  5,321  52,391 

New  Jersey 225  453  9,844  300,242 

New  Mexico I  I  40         

New  York 887  3,136  49,328  1,015,249 

North  Carolina 272  403  7,822  222,695 

Ohio 206  474  15,052  201,077 

Oregon 29  44  842  24,495 

Pennsylvania 524  914  23,751  57o,50i 

Rhode  Island 46  75  1,601  37.423 

South  Carolina 202  333  7,467  205,489 

Tennessee 264  404  9,928  175,926 

Texas 97  I37  3,389  77,732 

Utah 13  2,221 

Vermont 118  257  6,864  56,159 

Virginia 317  547  9,o68  351,007 

Wisconsin 58  86  2,723  19,899 

Total 6,085       12,260      263,096      $5,831,179 

The  usual  age  at  which  pupils  entered  these  academies 
was,  on  the  average,  about  nine  years;  but  oftentimes 
children  of  seven  were  foimd  in  them.^ 

Meanwhile,  down  to  1824  the  old  New  England  Latin 
school  continued  to  decline.  In  that  year  Massachusetts 
by  law  freed  all  towns  having  less  than  five  thousand 
inhabitants  from  the  obligation  of  maintaining  a  public 
secondary  school.  Only  seven  towns  in  the  state  con- 
tained a  population  in  excess  of  this  number,  and  thus, 
legally,  there  were  only  seven  public  high  schools  required 
in  the  whole  Commonwealth.  Fortunately  several  other 
towns  legally  exempt  felt  the  moral  obligation  and 
continued   their   schools   in   existence. 

The  town  grammar  or  Latin  school  of  1647  had  thus 
gradually  deteriorated  in  character,  dignity,  and  popular 
interest  until  in  1824  in  Massachusetts  its  place  was 
taken  legally  (save  in  seven  towns)  by  a  short-term, 
inferior,  elementary  school.     These  elementary  schools, 

1  op.  cil.,  pp.  94  ff- 


The  Middle  Period  53 

moreover,  were  no  longer,  in  many  instances,  town 
schools,  but  schools  that  were  held  and  supported  by 
small  sections  or  districts  of  the  town  acting  independently 
of  each  other.  We  have  seen,  too,  that  the  fate  of  the 
secondary  schools  of  Massachusetts  was,  in  its  general 
features,  not  different  from  that  of  similar  schools  in  the 
other  New  England  states.  Everjrwhere  in  America  at 
this  time  free,  public,  secondary  education  had  almost 
reached  the  vanishing  point.  Fortunately,  however,  at 
this  critical  stage  new  forces  brought  about  a  reaction  in 
the  sentiments  of  the  people  and  the  legislation  of  the 
governing  bodies.  In  1826  by  a  new  law  Massachusetts 
again  required  towns  of  five  hundred  f amiHes  to  maintain 
high  schools,  and,  in  towns  of  four  thousand  inhabitants, 
the  high  school  was  required  to  offer  instruction  in  the 
classical  languages.  In  1827  a  second  law  provided  that 
all  support  for  public  schools  should  come  from  public 
taxation.  In  1834  the  state  school  fimd  was  established. 
In  the  meantime  the  expression  "grammar  school" 
had  changed  its  significance  and  now  came  to  designate 
the  school  that  offered  the  work  formerly  given  by  the 
"reading  school"  and  the  "writing  school";  that  is,  the 
grammar-school  work  followed  the  veriest  elementary 
or  primary  instruction,  and  corresponded,  in  general,  to 
the  work  of  the  last  fotir  grades  of  our  present  elementary 
schools.  School  work  carried  on  beyond  this  stage — if  not 
pursued  in  the  Latin  school  or  the  academy  —  was  fol- 
lowed in  a  new  type  of  educational  institution  called  the 
high  school.^  Here  again,  as  in  so  many  other  innovations 
in  the  field  of  education  in  America,  Boston  first  set  up 
the  model.  This  was  in  182 1,  when  the  city  established 
what  was  called  the  English  Classical  School,  or  the 
Boys'  English  High  School, 

1  How  the  term  " high  school "  came  to  be  used  is  given  by  Brown,  o/".  «7.,  p.  301. 


54  Public  Secondary  Education 

The  program  of  studies  was  planned  for  three  years' 
work  and  was  to  be  entirely  prescribed.  The  school^ 
was  open  only  to  boys  who  had  attained  the  age  of  twelve 
years  and  who  could  successfully  pass  the  admission 
examinations  set  in  reading,  writing,  EngHsh  grammar, 
and  arithmetic.  Only  teachers  who  had  "been  regularly 
educated  at  some  university"  were  given  positions  in 
the  school.  The  aim  of  the  school  was  not  to  fit  boys  for 
college,  but  merely  to  give  a  more  extensive  and  better 
preparation  for  practical  Hfe  to  those  whose  circum- 
stances permitted  or  whose  ambitions  led  them  to  spend 
in  study  another  three  years  beyond  the  grammar  school. 
The  school  at  first  was  not  largely  attended.  During 
the  first  four  years  the  number  entering  during  any  one 
year  did  not  exceed  one  hundred  and  thirty-five.^ 

In  1825,  in  response  to  a  popular  request  that  high- 
school  training  be  furnished  the  girls  as  well  as  the  boys, 
the  School  Committee  established  a  Girls'  English  High 
School.  The  response  was  phenomenal  and  surprising. 
The  first  year  two  himdred  and  eighty-six  girls  made 
appHcation  for  admission  —  a  number  beyond  the 
capacity  of  the  school  building  to  house  and  for  whom 
the  resources  of  the  treasury  were  inadequate  to  provide. 
One  himdred  and  thirty  were  admitted.  The  following 
year  a  much  larger  number  sought  the  privileges  of  the 
school,  and  the  embarrassment  of  the  authorities  was 
increased.  Various  plans  were  proposed  and  tried  in 
order  to  solve  the  problem,  but  with  Uttle  success.  No 
relief  appeared  the  third  year,  and  in  1828  the  Girls'  High 
School  was  aboUshed.  The  branches  of  study  offered 
in  the  Girls'  High  School  were,  however,  now  incorporated 
in  the  work  of  the  various  grammar  schools  of  the  city  — 

1  The  provisions  for  this  school  as  made  in  the  Report  of  the  School  Committee 
at  the  time  are  quoted  in  detail  by  Brown,  op.  cil.,  pp.  298  #. 

2  Josiah  Quincy,  Municipal  History  of  Boston,  pp.  22  ff. 


The  Middle  Period  55 

a  policy  which  in  effect  really  converted  these  schools 
into  coeducational  high  schools  or  quasi  high  schools. 
This  was  the  first  —  though  unpremeditated  —  move- 
ment to  enrich  the  work  of  the  elementary  schools  and 
to  make  them  something  more  than  mere  training  places 
in  the  school  arts.  No  more  was  done  in  Boston  in  the 
way  of  providing  secondary  education  for  girls  until  1852, 
when  a  new  movement  set  in  and  another  and  improved 
high  school  for  girls  was  established. 

The  program  of  study  in  the  Girls'  High  School  of  Bos- 
ton, in  1826,  was  planned  to  cover  three  years'  work.  In 
general  the  curriculiim  was  inflexible,  though  there  were, 
besides  the  required  course,  certain  subjects  "allowed" 
to  be  piirsued  by  such  girls  as  showed  a  proficiency  that 
would  merit  the  "reward."  The  complete  program  of 
study  in  the  Girls'  High  School  in  1826  was  as  follows: 

First  YearI 

Required  subjects:  I,  Reading;  2,  Spelling;  3,  Writing  words 
and  sentences  from  dictation;  4,  English  Grammar  with  exercises 
in  the  same;  5,  Composition;  6,  Modern  and  Ancient  Geography; 
7,  Intellectual  and  Written  Arithmetic;  8,  Rhetoric;  9,  History  of 
the  United  States.     Allowed  subjects:   Logic  or  Botany. 

Second  Year 

Required:  i,  2,  5,  6,  7  and  8,  continued;  10,  Bookkeeping  by 
single  entry;  11,  Elements  of  Geometry;  12,  Natural  Philosophy; 
13,  General  History;  14,  History  of  English;  15,  Paley's  Natural 
Theology.  Allowed:  Logic,  Botany,  Demonstrative  Geometry, 
Algebra,  Latin  or  French. 

Third  Year 

Required:  i,  5,  12,  15,  continued;  16,  Astronomy;  17,  Treatise 
on  the  Globes;  18,  Chemistry;  19,  History  of  Greece;  20,  History 
of  Rome;  21,  Paley's  Moral  Philosophy;  22,  Paley's  Evidences  of 
Christianity.  Allowed:  Logic,  Algebra,  Principles  of  Perspective, 
the  Projection  of  Maps,  Botany,  Latin  or  French. 

1  Am.  Jour,  of  Ed.,  Vol.  13,  p.  243.  The  program  is  quoted  from  the  circulars 
issued  by  the  School  Committee  at  the  time.  The  figures  refer  to  the  numbers  of 
the  courses. 


56  Public  Secondary  Education 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  with  this  program  of 
studies  the  one  provided  for  the  Boys'  High  School  in 
182 1,  and  to  note  that  considerable  differentiation  is 
made  between  the  work  outlined  in  the  two  schools. 
The  following  is  the  program  for  the  boys'   school:^ 

The  Studies  of  the  First  Class 
Composition;   Reading  from  the  most  approved  authors;   Exer- 
cises in  Criticism:    Comprising  critical  analyses  of  the  language, 
grammar,  and  style  of  the  best  English  authors,  their  errors  and 
beauties;    Declamation;    Geography;   Arithmetic  continued. 

The  Studies  of  the  Second  Class 
Composition  [cont.];  Reading  [cont.];  Exercises  in  Criticism 
[cont.];  Declamation  [cont.];  Algebra  [cont.];  Ancient  and  Modem 
History  and  Chronology;  Logic;  Geometry;  Plane  Trigonom- 
etry, and  its  application  to  mensuration  of  Heights  and  Distances; 
Navigation;  Surveying;  Mensuration  of  Superficies  and  Solids; 
Forensic   Discussions. 

The  Studies  of  the  Third  Class 
Composition  [cont.];    Exercises  in  Criticism  [cont.];    Declama- 
tion [cont.];    Mathematics  [cont.];    Logic  [cont.];    History,  partic- 
ularly  that   of   the   United   States    [cont.];     Natural   Philosophy, 
including  Astronomy;   Moral  and  Political  Philosophy. 

The  program  of  studies  for  the  Boston  Latin  School 
for  this  same  period  differs  but  Httle  from  what  had  been 
offered  there  from  its  foimdation.  The  coiu-se  was  now 
five  years  ia  length,  and  the  work  pvirsued  was  as 
follows:^ 

First  Year 

Adam's  Latin  Grammar  and  the  Liber  Primus. 

Second  Year 

Graecia  Historiae  Epitome;  Viri  Romae;  Phaedri  Fabulae 
(Burman's  text,   with  English  notes);    Cornelius  Nepos;    Ovid's 

1  Taken  from  the  Report  of  the  School  Committee  made  in  1821,  and  quoted  by 
Brown,  op.  cit.,  p.  300. 

2  Taken  from  Mr.  B.  A.  Gould's  account  of  the  school  when  he  was  head 
master  there,  about  1824.  Excerpts  of  this  account  are  given  by  Brown,  op.  cit., 
pp.  27s  #.,  from  which  I  have  quoted. 


The  Middle  Period  57 

Metamorphoses  (by  Willymotte) ;  (Scansion,  rules  of  prosody, 
"capping  verses,"  etc.);  Valpy's  Chronology  of  Ancient  and  English 
History;  Dana's  Latin  Tutor  (for  composition) ;  Tooke's  Pantheon. 

Third  Year 

Greek  Grammar;  Caesar's  Commentaries;  Electa  ex  Ovidio 
et  Tibullo;  Delectus  Sententiarum  Graecarum;  Col.  Gr.  Minora, 
Sallust,  Virgil  (written  translations  in  English). 

Fourth  and  Fifth  Years 
Latin  Tutor,  continued;  followed  by  Valpy's  Elegantiae  Latinae; 
Bradley's  Prosody.  Cicero's  Select  Orations,  De  Officiis,  De 
Senectute,  and  De  Amicitia;  Horace  Exp.;  Juvenal  and  Persius 
Expur.;  Greek  Primitives;  Xenophon's  Anabasis;  Maittaire's 
Homer;  Greek  Testament;  Wyttenbach's  Greek  Historiana; 
Geography  (Worcester's) ;  Arithmetic  (Colburn,  Lecroix) ;  Geometry 
(Euclid);  Trigonometry,  and  its  uses;  Algebra  (Euler);  Greek 
Exercises  (Neilson's).i 

In  pre-Revolutionary  days  the  Latin-school  course 
reqmred  ordinarily  seven  years  for  its  completion.  In 
1789  it  was  reduced  to  four  years  in  Massachusetts,  and 
the  minimum  age  of  admission  was  made  ten  years.  In 
1823  the  course  was  increased  to  five  years  and  the  age 
limit  fixed  at  nine.  In  i860  the  course  was  increased  to 
six  years,  and  the  minimum  age  limit  was  again  placed 
at  ten  years.     These  are  the  conditions  to-day. 

The  curricula  of  the  academies  during  this  same  general 
period  differed  somewhat  with  different  institutions. 
Most  of  these  schools  had  two  departments  or  courses  of 
study — the  Latin  and  the  English.  In  the  better  class  of 
academies  Latin  still  continued  to  constitute  the  back- 
bone of  the  work,  and  the  other  subjects  were  made 
subordinate  to  it.  If  one  recalls  that  up  to  the  year 
1800  no  college  in  America  required  for  admission  any 

1  Dr.  Brown  states  that  the  following  books  were  in  use  in  addition  to  those  given 
in  the  curriculum:  Schrevilin's  Greek  Lexicon,  Hedericus,  Scapula,  Morell's 
Thesaurus,  Walker's  Classical  Key,  Lempriere's  Classical  Dictionary,  Adam's 
Roman  Antiquities,  and  Entick's  and  Ainsworth's  Latin  Dictionary.  Brown, 
op.  cil.,  p.  278,  note. 


58  Public  Secondary  Education 

subjects  save  Latin,  Greek,  and  arithmetic,*  and  that 
from  1800  to  i860  only  five^  other  subjects  were  added  to 
the  Kst  of  college  requirements,  one  can  get  a  fairly- 
accurate  notion  of  what  work  was  included  in  the  college 
preparatory  or  Latin  course  of  the  academies. 

"But  the  notable  thing  about  the  academies  as  distin- 
guished from  the  grammar  (Latin)  schools,  was  that  they 
went,  on  adding  subjects  to  this  program  at  their  own 
sweet  will,  wholly  regardless  of  what  the  colleges  were 
doing.  Sometimes  they  brought  subjects  down  from 
the  college  course;  sometimes  they  took  subjects  which 
the  most  of  the  colleges  did  not  touch." ^  The  English 
course  in  these  schools,  therefore,  ranged  from  very  elemen- 
tary branches  up  to  and  beyond  the  limits  of  higher 
education.  In  some,  even  at  an  early  date,  modem 
foreign  language  was  studied  —  a  subject  unheard  of  in 
most  quarters  at  the  time. 

The  program  of  study  in  the  Phillips  academies  was 
doubtless  superior  in  scope  and  application  to  that  of  the 
majority  of  the  secondary  schools  of  this  period.  Still 
it  furnishes  a  good  illustration  of  the  ideals  that  were  set 
by  the  more  worthy  academies,  and  for  purposes  of  com- 
parison may  be  taken  as  a  type.  The  full  program  of 
studies  offered  at  PhilHps  Exeter  in  18 18  was  as  follows:^ 

CLASSICAL   DEPARTMENT 

For  the  First  Year 

Adam's   Latin    Grammar;     Liber   Primus,   or   a   similar   work; 

Viri  Romani,  or  Caesar's  Commentaries;   Latin  Prosody;   Exercises 

in  Reading  and  making  Latin;    Ancient  and  Modern  Geography; 

Virgil  and  Arithmetic. 

1  Brown,  op.  cit.,  p.  231. 

2  These  subjects,  with  the  dates  of  their  first  appearance  in  the  list  of  require- 
ments for  any  college,  are  geography,  1807;  English  grammar,  1819;  algebra, 
i820;  geometry,  1844;  ancient  history,  1847.     See  Brown,  op.  cit.,  pp.  231-2. 

3  Brown,  op.  cit.,  p.  232. 

4  Bell,  Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  pp.  93-94.  The  courses  are  quoted  by  Brown, 
of  cit.,  pp.  237-8. 


The  Middle  Period  59 

For  the  Second  Year 

Virgil;  Arithmetic  and  exercises  in  Reading  and  making  Latin, 
continued;  Valpy's  Greek  Grammar;  Roman  History;  Cicero's 
Select  Orations;  Delectus;  Dalzel's  Collectanea  Graeca  Minora; 
Greek  Testament;  English  Grammar  and  Declamation. 

For  the  Third  Year 

The  same  Latin  and  Greek  authors  in  revision;  English  Grammar 
and  Declamation  continued;  Sallust;  Algebra;  Exercises  in  English 
and  Latin  translations,  and  Composition. 

For  the  Advanced  Class 

Collectanea  Graeca  Majora;  Q.  Horatius  Flaccus;  Titus  Livius; 
Parts  of  Terence's  Comedies;  Excerpta  Latina,  or  such  Latin  and 
Greek  authors  as  may  best  comport  with  the  student's  future 
distinction;  Algebra;  Geometry;  Elements  of  Ancient  History; 
Adam's  Roman  Antiquities,  etc. 

ENGLISH  DEPARTMENT 

For  admission  into  this  department  the  candidate  must  be  at 
least  twelve  years  of  age.i  and  must  have  been  well  instructed  in 
Reading  and  Spelling;  familiarity  with  Arithmetic  through  simple 
proportion  with  the  exception  of  Fractions,  with  Murray's  English 
Grammar  through  Syntax,  and  must  be  able  to  parse  simple  English 
sentences. 

The  following  is  the  course  of  instruction  and  study  in  the  English 
Department,  which,  with  special  exceptions,  will  comprise  three 
years. 

For  the  First  Year 

English  Grammar  including  exercises  in  Reading,  in  Parsing,  and 
in  Analyzing,  in  the  correction  of  bad  English;  Punctuation  and 
Prosody;  Arithmetic;  Geography,  and  Algebra  through  simple 
Equations. 

For  the  Second  Year 

English  Grammar  continued;  Geometry;  Plane  Trigonometry 
and  its  applications  to  heights  and  distances;  mensuration  of 
Sup.  and  Sol.;  Elements  of  Ancient  History;  Logic;  Rhetoric; 
English  Composition;  Declamation  and  exercises  of  the  Forensic 
kind. 

1  It  will  be  recalled  that  in  many  academies  youths  were  admitted  at  seven 
years  of  age,  and  that  the  most  usual  age  on  entrance  averaged  about  nine  years. 
Phillips  Exeter  therefore  had  higher  entrance  requirements  than  most  academies. 


6o  Public  Secondary  Education 

For  the  Third  Year 

Surveying;  Navigation;  Elements  of  Chemistry  and  Natural 
Philosophy,  with  experiments;  Elements  of  Modern  History, 
particularly  of  the  United  States;  Moral  and  Political  Philosophy, 
with  English  Composition,  Forensics,  and  Declamation  continued. 

In  no  school  of  secondary  rank  —  whether  grammar 
school  or  academy  —  was  any  illustrative  apparatus 
used  before  1798.  The  first  pieces  consisted  of  globes, 
prospect  glasses,  and  microscopes.  There  were  no 
laboratories  before  1824,  nor  any  experiments  or  demon- 
strations before  the  class  before  this  date,  save  perchance 
of  very  simple  phenomena  and  with  very  simple  contriv- 
ances. Even  in  the  English  high  schools  and  the  English 
departments  of  the  academies  little  effort  was  made  to 
vitalize  the  work  and  make  it  connect  intimately  with 
life  and  life  processes.  School  work  was  still  pretty 
largely  a  task  that  had  to  be  performed  under  stem, 
rigid,  and  close  voluntary  concentration.  Memory  still 
bore  the  burden  of  training,  and  slight  effort  was  made  to 
attract  through  the  inherent  interest  of  thesubject-matter, 
interestingly  presented. 

The  tevival  of  public  secondary  education  that  started 
in  Boston  in  182 1  soon  spread  to  other  cities  beyond  the 
confines  of  that  Commonwealth.  In  1838  Philadelphia 
established  her  Central  High  School  with  three  courses  of 
study, —  the  English  Course  of  two  years,  the  Modem 
Language  Course  of  four  years,  and  the  Classical  Course 
of  four  years. ^  In  1839  Baltimore,  Maryland,  and 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  each  erected  city  high 
schools.  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  entered  the  field  in 
1843,  and  Hartford,  Connecticut,  in  1847.  In  1848  New 
York  City  established  what  she  called  a  Free  Academy. 

1  Dexter,  op.  cit.,  p.  171,  states  that  before  1840  six  other  towns  besides  Boston 
had  established  high  schools.  These  were  Portland,  Me.,  1821;  Worcester,  Mass., 
1824;  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  1827;  Cambridge,  Mass.,  1838;  Taunton,  Mass.,  1838; 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  1839. 


The  Middle  Period  6i 

To  all  intents  and  purposes  this  was  a  public  high  school, 
but  the  institution  soon  developed  into  a  school  of  higher 
rank  and  in  1866  took  the  name  of  "The  College  of  the 
City  of  New  York." 

From  now  on  the  public  high-school  movement  went 
steadily  forward.^  Just  how  many  free  public  high 
schools  there  were  before  the  Civil  War  is  a  question  on 
which  there  is  considerable  difference  of  opinion.  As  has 
been  pointed  out,  many  academies  were  regarded  both  by 
their  founders  and  by  their  constituencies  as  public 
secondary  schools,  and  certain  it  is  many  of  them  did  in 
fact,  if  not  in  name,  fill  this  function.  Consequently,  in 
compiling  the  figures,  discrepancies  are  boimd  to  arise. 
One  authority  says  that  in  185 1  eighty  cities  in  America 
possessed  public  high  schools!^  In  1855  it  is  asserted 
Massachusetts  alone  had  sixty-four  such  schools.^  In 
1856  Ohio  had  ninety-seven.*  Other  states  possessed 
proportionate  numbers.  Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  Dr. 
Harris  has  held  that  in  the  whole  United  States  in  i860 
there  were  only  forty  free  public  schools  worthy  the 
name  ' '  high  school . "  ^  Evidently  the  number  is  dependent 
upon  the  critical  judgment  of  the  individual  who  sifts  the 
evidence  and  the  data.  Certain  it  is,  however,  that  down 
to  1850  or  i860  the  academies  largely  controlled  secondary 
education  in  America,  and  that  by  far  the  greatest 
numbers  of  pupils  pursuing  secondary  education  were 
enrolled  in  them. 

The  period  from  1750  to  1850  may  thus  well  be  con- 
sidered a  transition  period  in  the  history  of  secondary 
education  in  the  United  States.     So  long  as  the  people 

1  Before  1850  we  find  the  following  schools,  among  others:  New  Orleans,  1843; 
Cleveland,  1846;  Cincinnati,  1847;  Toledo,  1849. 

2  Barney,  Report  on  the  American  System,  p.  5. 

3  Brown,  op.  cit.,  p.  313. 

4  Taylor,  Ohio  School  System,  p.  409. 

5  Proc.  N.E.A.,  1901,  pp.  174-180. 


62  Public  Secondary  Education 

in  New  England  were  nearly  homogeneous  in  nationality, 
in  religious  beliefs,  in  social  ideals  and  industrial  ambitions, 
the  old  Latin  school  served  their  needs  and  served  them 
moderately  well.  With  the  changed  physical  and  social 
enviromnent  and  conditions  that  appeared  incipiently 
before  the  year  1700  there  came  also  a  change  in  the 
spiritual  and  intellectual  ideals  and  in  the  educational 
motives.  The  old  school  plan  began  to  break  down. 
The  influx  of  new  immigrants  who  had  been  brought  up 
under  a  different  code  of  religion  and  law,  who  had 
passed  through  less  strenuous  struggles  for  group  preserva- 
tion, brought  into  influence  a  faction  that  had  little 
interest  in  the  traditions  and  institutions  of  the  earlier 
settlers.  Nor  did  the  second  and  third  generations  of 
children  of  the  rigid  old  Puritans  appreciate,  as  did  their 
fathers,  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  necessities  of  a  liberal 
education.  A  secular  spirit  and  ambition  seized  upon  the 
land,  and  the  hopes  of  immediate  material  and  individual 
aggrandizement  took  the  place  of  the  high  social  ideals 
that  dominated  in  the  earlier  days. 

But  perhaps  more  powerful  than  any  other  agency  in 
bringing  about  these  changed  ideals  and  efforts  were  the 
colonial  wars  which  culminated  finally  in  the  Revolution- 
ary War  and  the  War  of  18 12.  Following  in  the  train  of 
each  of  these  came  violent  religious  dissensions  and  a 
diminution  of  faith  in  the  orthodox  creed.  What  injured 
the  mother  was  bound  also  to  affect  the  child.  The  old 
Latin  school  was  in  fact  a  church  school — yes,  a  school 
of  the  Congregational  denomination.  Now  new  religious 
sects  arose;  the  old  social  homogeneity  dissolved;  the 
Latin  school,  neglected  during  the  strife  of  opinions,  was 
abandoned  nearly  to  its  death. 

Out  of  this  changed  and  heterodox  condition — a  condi- 
tion different  materially,  socially,  politically,  religiously, 


The  Middle  Period  63 

and  ideally, — arose  the  academies.  Here  was  one  institu- 
tion in  which  men  could  cooperate  with  mutual  good  will, 
and  on  a  nearly  equal  footing.  Here,  indeed,  religion 
formed  a  basic  principle,  but  not  a  creedal  one.  Here 
differences  of  all  kinds  could  be  merged  and  could  yield 
to  a  common  ideal.  For  approximately  one  hundred 
years,  therefore,  the  academies  served  as  the  strongest 
tie  to  bind  all  the  people  together  in  harmony.  Here 
was  again  taught  the  art  of  living  together  —  here  was 
preserved  the  germ  of  social  solidarity  or  unity.  When, 
following  the  French  Revolution,  democratic  and  heretical 
theories  were  running  wild,  the  academies  checked  the 
dissolving  tendencies  and  preserved  the  continuity  of 
the  religious,  the  political,  and  the  educational  traditions. 
By  1840  the  height  of  the  decentralizing  tendencies 
was  reached.  Then  came  the  general  reaction,  which  in 
places  had  already  begun,  and  out  of  the  new  conditions 
was  evolved  the  public  high  school.  Its  later  history  is 
reserved  for  other  chapters. 


CHAPTER  III 

The  Early  Northwest^ 

NOT  fewer  than  seven  sovereign  powers  have  claimed 
control  over  all  or  parts  of  the  old  Northwest 
Territory — that  territory  lying  north  of  the  Ohio  River 
and  east  of  the  Mississippi  now  included  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  United  States.  Nor  does  this  boast  of 
sovereignty  take  into  account  the  fact  that  an  equally 
valid  case  might  be  presented  on  behalf  of  numerous 
Indian  tribes  whose  authority  in  this  region  was  for 
years  unshaken  though  not  tinquestioned.  The  state- 
ment has  reference  only  to  nations  and  divisions  of  the 
Caucasian  race. 

In  the  earlier  days  of  the  seventeenth  century,  when  the 
courts  of  the  Bourbons  exerted  the  dominant  influence  in 
world  affairs  —  when  the  absolutism  of  Louis  XIII  and 
Louis  XIV  not  only  controlled  France  but  set  the  example 
for  like  despotism  in  numerous  other  quarters;  when  the 
keenness  of  French  ministers  and  the  aggressiveness  and 
fearlessness  of  Jesuit  priests  were  affecting  policies '  of 
State  and  Church  in  all  parts  of  the  world  —  it  was  very 
natural  that  at  least  certain  portions  of  the  New  World 
should  be  brought  within  the  scope  of  French  influences. 
Then  it  was  that  the  St.  Lawrence  River  region  and  the 
Great  Lakes  district  of  America  were  first  penetrated  by 
adventurous  soldiers  and  pious  missionaries,  and  these 
lands  and  waters,  forests  and  plains,  were  first  brought 

1  For  much  of  the  material  herein  employed  I  am  indebted  to  the  following 
treatises:  Howe,  Ohio;  Taylor,  Manual  of  Ohio  School  System;  Hinsdale,  Schools 
in  the  Western  Reserve;  Coggeshill,  System  of  Common  Schools  in  Ohio;  Woodbum, 
Higher  Education  in  Indiana;  Willard,  History  of  Education  in  Illinois;  and  others. 

64 


The  Early  Northwest  65 

under  the  flag  of  France.  For  a  hundred  years  these 
hardy  subjects  and  unofficial  representatives  of  the 
Louises  were  the  only  white  men  to  enter  this  distant  and 
almost  imknown  territory.  The  persons  of  historical 
renown,  however,  who  traversed  these  wilds  of  an  earlier 
day  are  numerous.  Cartier,  Champlain,  Charlevoix, 
Frontenac,  La  Salle,  Marquette,  Hennepin,  Joliet,  Cadil- 
lac, and  Tonti  are  well-known  characters  in  the  history  of 
this  region.  French  settlements  or  trading  posts  were 
early  to  be  found  at  points  on  or  near  the  sites  of  what  are 
now  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Mackinaw,  Green  Bay,  Chicago, 
St.  Joseph,  Detroit,  Vincennes,  Kaskaskia,  and  other 
towns.  Wherever  the  topography  offered  natural  advan- 
tages for  defense  or  for  trade,  there  French  settlers  were 
to  be  found  at  a  comparatively  early  day.  Before  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers  had  stepped  out  on  Plymouth  Rock  the 
French  were  making  explorations  in  what  is  now  Canada 
and  Maine,  and  long  before  the  close  of  the  seventeenth 
century  they  had  sailed  up  the  St.  Lawrence,  had  crossed 
to  the  upper  lake  region,  had  floated  down  the  tributaries 
of  the  Mississippi  and  the  great  river  itself,  and  had  taken 
nominal  possession  of  these  regions  in  the  name  of  the 
French  nation. 

All  this  was  happening  nearly  a  full  hundred  years  before 
the  English,  situated  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  had  advanced 
to  the  summit  of  the  Alleghenies.  Nor  did  the  French 
attempt  to  move  eastward  from  the  Mississippi  to  these 
mountains  imtil  well  into  the  eighteenth  century.  The 
two  nations  were  therefore  separated  by  a  wide  expanse 
of  wild,  rugged,  and  untouched  land  made  more  or  less 
unapproachable  from  either  side  by  difficult  mountain 
ranges,  dark  and  tangled  forests,  and  lurking  enemies 
— both  Indians  and  wild  beasts. 

Nevertheless  an  inevitable  conflict  was  approaching. 
6 


66  Public  Secondary  Education 

Since  the  days  of  the  Nonnan  Conquest  in  1066  a  natural 
and  national  jealousy  had  existed  between  England  and 
France.  The  territorial,  personal,  commercial,  political, 
and  religious  rivalries  in  Europe  had  for  centuries  brought 
the  two  powers  into  an  intermittent  struggle  for  suprem- 
acy. The  discovery  of  the  western  world  introduced  one 
more  cause  for  strife.  The  prize  now  was  no  longer  petty 
shires,  counties,  and  kingdoms,  but  a  whole  continent. 
For  a  hundred  years  neither  party  seems  to  have  appre- 
ciated its  value,  and  consequently  both  had  neglected 
to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity  offered.  Nearly 
simultaneously,  however,  each  nation  awoke  to  the 
conscious  recognition  of  the  importance  of  the  stake 
and  straightway  set  out  to  possess  itself  of  it.  Another 
hundred  years'  war  ensued,  broken  only  by  periods  of 
insincere  truces  and  of  professed  inactivities.  The 
climax  came,  however,  in  1763,  when  by  the  Treaty  of 
Paris  France  was  utterly  and  permanently  eliminated  as 
a  power  from  the  western  hemisphere.  From  this  date 
until  1783  England  held  undisputed  the  whole  eastern 
half  of  the  continent  north  of  Florida.  She  was  thus  the 
second  ruler  of  the  Northwest  Territory. 

Another  change  came  with  the  close  of  the  Revolution- 
ary War.  When  at  that  time  England  surrendered  to  the 
thirteen  states  all  her  possessions  sovith  of  Canada,  a  new 
difficulty  arose.  Since  1 763  seven  of  the  thirteen  states  had 
claimed  control  over  portions  of  the  uninhabited  districts 
to  the  westward.  The  claimant  states  were  those  whose 
boundary  lines  had  been  made  more  or  less  indefinite  by 
their  charters,  or  whose  titles  were  based  on  treaties 
with  the  Indian  tribes.  Naturally  in  many  instances 
these  claims  conflicted  and  overlapped  each  other.  In 
particular,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New  York,  and 
Virginia  each  presented  documentary  evidence  to  show 


The  Early  Northwest  67 

that  all,  or  part,  of  the  old  Northwest  belonged  to  her. 
Even  before  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War  disputes 
respecting  this  land  question  and  its  adjustment  had 
caused  no  small  amount  of  jealousy  and  friction.  How- 
ever the  more  wise  and  sane  councils  prevailed,  and  each 
claimant  agreed  to  surrender  her  rights  and  jurisdiction 
to  the  control  of  the  general  government.  Thus,  begin- 
ning with  1780  and  continuing  until  1802,^  one  state  after 
another  yielded  her  traditional  claims  with  certain  minor 
reservations  and  conditions.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
the  national  domain,  and  from  now  on,  until  the  different 
sections  were  organized  and  admitted  into  the  Union  as 
equal  states,  the  Northwest  was  completely  under  the 
control  of  the  central  authority. 

Thus  the  old  Northwest  was  successively  subject,  or 
jointly  subject,  to  control  by  the  following  powers:  the 
Indian  tribes,  particularly  the  Iroquois  Nation;  the 
French;  the  British;  the  sovereign  states  of  Virginia, 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  New  York;  the  Federal 
government,  and,  finally,  the  Federal  states  of  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin,  together 
with  Minnesota  in  respect  to  a  small  tract. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  seen  that  as  early  as 
1787  an  English  settlement  had  been  made  in  the  North- 
west Territory  at  Marietta,  Ohio.  Other  immigrants 
soon  followed,  and  despite  the  hardships  of  frontier  life, 
despite  the  ever-present  dangers  of  attacks  from  Indians 
and  wild  animals,  despite  the  threatening  aspect  of 
England  which,  in  disregard  of  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of 
1783,  refused  to  give  possession  of  the  military  posts  in 
this  region  —  despite  all  these  adverse  conditions,  from 
now  on  hordes  of  immigrants  streamed  into  this  distant, 

1  Chase,  History  of  Ohio,  p.  22;  also  Johnston,  History  of  the  United  States, 
p.  174- 


68  Public  Secondary  Education 

but  fertile,  region.  There  were,  moreover,  other  factors 
conspiring  to  foster  this  westward  movement,  and  these 
in  particiilar  have  exerted  a  mighty  influence  on  the 
educational  history  of  the  territory. 

The  Revolutionary  War  left  the  central  government 
heavily  in  debt  and  with  no  efficient  means  of  collecting, 
through  taxation,  funds  with  which  to  meet  these  obHga- 
tions.  Owing,  however,  to  the  cessions  of  lands  by  the 
various  states,  the  central  government  had  at  its  disposal 
what  then  seemed  almost  inexhaustible  quantities  of 
unsurveyed,  uninhabited,  and  unassigned  farming  tracts. 
Here,  it  was  seen,  was  a  source  of  wealth;  here  was  a 
means  for  replenishing  the  treasury  and  for  meeting  the 
current  and  past  expenses  of  the  government.  All  that 
was  wanting  were  the  purchasers,  and  it  was  thought 
these  could  be  secured.  It  was  decided  to  throw  open 
these  lands  to  settlers  at  prices  so  low  and  on  conditions 
so  favorable  that  any  thrifty  citizen  would  be  attracted 
by  the  offer.  The  plan  succeeded  to  an  extent  far  beyond 
the  expectations  of  the  veriest  seer  of  the  age,  nor  can  we 
say  that  the  policy  thus  begun  has  yet  come  to  an  end. 

The  first  settlers  to  the  Northwest  were  not  foreigners 
from  European  states,  but  were  the  vigorous  and  hardy 
citizens  from  the  Atlantic  coast  —  more  particularly  from 
New  England  and  New  York.  Later,  it  is  true,  the  South 
and  Southeast  furnished  large  numbers  of  immigrants  to 
Indiana  and  Illinois,  but  this  was  not  the  case  with  the 
rest  of  the  territory.  The  settlers  from  New  England, 
however  brave  and  ready  to  face  the  material  and  physical 
difficulties  that  lay  before  them  in  the  Northwest,  did 
nevertheless  hesitate  to  be  cut  off  from  spiritual  and  intel- 
lectual sustenance.  Their  forefathers  were  the  Puritans 
who  had  migrated  to  America  to  secure  for  themselves  the 
blessings  of   toleration  in  religion  and  of   freedom  in 


The  Early  Northwest  69 

government.  They  had  also  come  to  this  country  to 
enjoy  liberty  of  thought  and  to  develop,  unhampered, 
civil,  religious,  and  educational  ideals.  For  these  prin- 
ciples they  had  been  willing  to  fight,  to  bleed,  and,  if 
necessary,  to  die.  Their  posterity,  though  perhaps  of  a 
less  serious  temperament  than  their  fathers,  and  with 
religious  and  literary  aspirations  perhaps  not  always  so 
lofty  and  fixed,  were  nevertheless  at  heart  imbued  with 
the  same  .traditions,  ambitions,  and  principles.  The 
backwoods  of  the  Ohio  Valley  might  furnish  equal 
opportunities  for  freedom  of  thought,  religion,  and 
government,  but  they  could  not  furnish  opportunity  for 
the  same  intellectual  development  as  could  the  East. 
The  American  people  as  a  whole  have  always  stood  in 
more  fear  of  ignorance  and  illiteracy  than  they  have  of 
Satan,  despotism,  poverty,  and  physical  dangers.  Indeed, 
they  have  always  gone  on  the  assumption  that  the 
banishment  of  the  two  former  foes  is  equivalent  to  the 
overthrow  of  the  four  latter.  History  seems,  too,  to  be 
justifying  their  faith. 

In  order,  therefore,  to  make  the  western  lands  doubly 
attractive  and  to  encourage  the  migration  thither  of  the 
most  desirable  classes  of  citizens,  the  central  government, 
in  the  two  famous  ordinances  mentioned  in  the  last 
chapter,^  provided  not  only  that  the  lands  Should  be  offered 
at  £L  low  price,  not  only  that  the  settlers  should  forever 
be  guaranteed  the  operation  of  sound  principles  of  govern- 
ment and  of  civil  liberty,  but  above  and  beyond  these 
that  they  and  their  posterity  should  forever  enjoy  the 
equal  spiritual  and  intellectual  advantages  possessed  by 
the  rest  of  the  nation.  To  this  end  the  government, 
before  disposing  of  these  lands,  made  provision  for  the 
careful  siuvey  of  the  whole  region  and  dedicated  the 

'  Chapter  II.  p.  47. 


70  Public  Secondary  Education 

sixteenth  section  of  each  and  every  township  to  the 
support  and  maintenance  of  schools.  Likewise,  too,  it 
set  aside  a  similar  section  in  each  township — sometimes 
the  ninth,  sometimes  the  eighteenth,  and  sometimes  the 
twenty-ninth  —  to  the  support  and  maintenance  of  reli- 
gion and  the  church.  The  growing  diversity  of  sects,  the 
interdenominational  jealousies,  and  the  increased  secular 
spirit  soon  revealed  the  fact  that,  however  closely  a 
community  might  be  welded  into  a  unity  for  harmonious 
and  concerted  action  respecting  education,  the  same  was 
not  true,  and  at  that  particular  time  at  least  could  not  be 
true,  respecting  religion.  Consequently  the  sections  of 
public  land  dedicated  to  the  cause  of  religion  were  a 
source  of  local  jealousy  and  contention  rather  than  of 
conciliation  and  solidification.  The  clauses  in  the  land 
ordinances  granting  these  sections  to  the  church  may 
have  aided  in  furthering  migration,  but  the  lands  were 
never  administered  as  advantageously  as  were  the  lands 
dedicated  to  the  schools.  The  result  was  that  there 
never  was  formed,  and  never  could  have  been  formed,  a 
permanent  church  fund,  the  interest  from  which  was  to 
be  inviolably  devoted  to  the  support  of  reHgion  as  such. 
In  time  Congress  annulled  its  former  ordinances  respecting 
this  phase  of  its  grants,  nor  did  it  ever  reincorporate  the 
principle  in  later  provisions  concerning  the  public  lands. 
As  each  portion  of  the  Northwest  was  organized  into  a 
territory  and  later  into  a  state.  Congress,  in  addition  to 
the  other  school  grants,  dedicated  one  entire  township  in 
each  territory  for  the  support  of  a  seminary  of  learning  or 
a  imiversity.  In  some  instances  two  whole  townships 
instead  of  one  were  allotted.  These  gifts  became  the 
nuclei  out  of  which  arose  the  state  universities  and  the 
system  of  free  higher  education  now  found  in  many  parts 
of  the  Union. 


The  Early  Northwest  71 

As  already  indicated,  all  these  government  grants  of 
land  were  made  with  the  primary  and  immediate  purpose 
of  attracting  settlers  to  the  West,  in  order  that  fundr 
might  be  raised  with  which  to  meet  the  obligations  of  the 
government.  Another  motive  that  the  government  had 
was  to  fortify  the  Northwest  against  English  ambition 
by  attracting  to  this  region  sufficient  people  to  insure 
successful  resistance  to  any  perfidious  attempt  that 
might  be  made  to  reconquer  it.  As  time  went  on,  and 
England  made  no  movement  toward  withdrawing  from 
the  military  posts  here,  suspicion  became  more  and  more 
pronoimced  that  she  never  intended  to  abide  by  the 
terms  of  the  treaty  of  1783,  and  that  she  waited  only  for 
a  favorable  opportimity  to  regain  full  and  absolute 
possession  of  the  whole  district.  Indeed,  between  1783 
and  181 5  the  British  flag  floated  over  this  territory 
more  than  half  the  time,  and  this  occurred  despite  the 
fact  that  the  actual  period  of  avowed  war  during  that 
time  was  only  three  years.  ^  Later  events  in  history 
seem  to  have  corroborated  the  suspicions  of  Congress 
and  the  public.  The  War  of  1S12  was  to  a  large  degree 
a  struggle  for  this  teiTitory,  nor  was  there  ever  any 
true  political  freedom  here  vmtil  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  in 
1815. 

The  Ordinance  of  1787  provided  that  not  fewer  than 
three  or  more  than  five  states^  should  be  formed  from 
the  Northwest  Territory.  Acting  on  this  principle,  Con- 
gress began  in  1800  to  divide  the  district.  In  that 
year  Ohio  was  organized  as  a  separate  territory  and  the 
remainder  of  the  land  was  termed  Indiana.  In  1805 
Michigan  Territory  was  separated  from  this  on  the 
north,  and  in  1809  Illinois  was  set  off  from  it  on  the  west. 

1  For  this  thought  and  many  others  in  this  chapter,  I  am  indebted  to  Hins- 
dale's The  Old  Northwest. 

2  Chase,  op.  cit.,  p.  9. 


72  Public  Secondary  Education 

Some  years  later,  in  1836,  Wisconsin  was  made  into  the 
fifth  tenitory.     Here  the  division  ended. ^ 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  first  educational  land 
grants  made  by  Congress  were  made  directly  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  several  townships,  to  be  administered  by  them 
as  they  collectively  might  deem  wise,  conditioned  only  by 
the  requirement  that  they  be  devoted  to  the  support  of 
schools  of  that  particular  township.  Unfortunately,  the 
early  settlers  of  Ohio  had  no  precedents  or  experience  to 
guide  them  in  the  exercise  of  this  power,  and  as  a  con- 
sequence there  was  mismanagement,  waste,  and  loss  on 
every  side.  Owing  partially  to  this  fact  and  partially  to 
the  principle  embodied  in  the  letter  of  the  law  itself,  there 
was  developed  in  Ohio  no  feeling  of  state  pride  in  education 
and  no  interest  in  a  state-wide  school  system.  Indeed, 
in  many  townships  the  coinmon-school  fimds^  were  entirely 
dissipated,  and  the  districts  or  townships  were  left  with 
no  source  of  school  revenue  save  that  of  direct  local 
taxation.  This  method,  hated  and  opposed  by  the  many 
enlightened  communities,  is  especially  obnoxious  to 
pioneer  and  struggling  settlers.  Naturally,  then,  one 
need  not  expect  to  find  the  early  immigrants  in  the 
Northwest  voluntarily  rising  to  heights  of  deferred  state- 
craft such  as  philosophers  might  teach.  Nor  indeed  will 
one  so  find  them.  Education  in  Ohio,  therefore,  did  not 
keep  pace  with  the  high  ideals  set  by  the  leaders.  Schools 
were  left  pretty  largely  to  the  organization,  adminis- 
tration, and  control  of  various  religious  denominations, 
or  of  private  or  local  associations,  even  well  down  into 
the  nineteenth  century. 

1  As  is  well  known,  a  small  portion  of  the  old  Northwest  Territory  was  added 
to  the  present  state  of  Minnesota.  However,  only  five  complete  states  were 
organized  from  the  Northwest  Territory,  so  the  statement  above  is  substantially 
correct. 

2  It  is  probable  the  expression,  "common  schools,"  arose  from  some  such  wording 
as  this.  These  funds  were  dedicated  to  schools  that  were  to  serve  all  in  the  district 
in  common,  equally. 


The  Early  Northwest  73 

By  means  of  the  government  grant  for  a  central  academy 
or  college  of  higher  learning,  Ohio  did  establish  a  State 
University  at  Athens,  and  this  enjoyed  a  fair  degree  of 
prosperity  and  honor  even  during  its  earlier  history.  The 
story  of  most  of  the  other  early  public  schools  of  the  state 
is  not  gratifying. 

In  1803  Ohio  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  state. 
The  constitution  which  at  this  time  was  accepted  as  the 
fundamental  state  law  contained  the  declaration  that 
"schools  and  the  means  of  instnaction  should  be  forever 
encouraged  by  the  legislative  power,  not  inconsistent 
with  the  rights  of  conscience."^  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
even  this  vague  and  general  provision  went  almost 
unheeded  for  nearly  twenty  years.  Until  182 1  there 
were,  "save  in  the  most  enterprising  towns,"  no  schools 
whatever  in  the  state.^  In  1806  a  law  had  been  passed 
providing  for  the  organization  of  certain  school  districts 
and  for  the  care  of  the  school  funds  arising  from  the 
disposal  of  the  sixteenth  section  and  other  sources,  but 
this  affected  few.  In  182 1  a  similar  law  was  enacted  for 
the  whole  state.  It  authorized  the  election  of  local 
school  officers,  who  were  empowered  to  organize  the 
district,  assess  taxes,  erect  school  buildings,  and  employ 
teachers.  It  was,  however,  wholly  permissive  in  its 
provisions  and  hence  was  of  little  value.  Experience 
has  shown  over  and  over  again  that  legislation  of  this 
character  sits  but  lightly  upon  the  minds  and  con- 
sciences of  people  whose  immediate  dominant  interests 
are  seemingly  best  served  by  neglecting  and  ignoring 
its  recommendations. 

However,  some  progress  was  being  made.  The  next 
year,  in  1822,  a  Commission  of  Seven  was  appointed  to 

1  Coggeshill,  "System  of  Common  Schools  in  Ohio,"  in  American  Journal  of 
Education,  Vol.  6,  p.  82. 

2  Ibid. 


74  Public  Secondary  Education 

investigate  and  to  report  a  plan  for  a  complete  state  school 
system.  This  Commission  reported  in  1824,  and  the 
next  year  a  bill  was  presented  and  passed  which  created 
such  a  sj-stem.  This  law  was  to  be  mandatory  over  the 
whole  state  and  provided  for  a  tax  for  school  purposes 
of  one  half  mill  on  all  assessable  property.  But  the  idea 
was  not  well  received,  and  though  the  law  was  bolstered 
by  other  supplementary  acts,  the  state-wide  public-school 
system  did  not  become  efficient  until  1836.^ 

The  early  school  history  of  Indiana  is  not  much  different 
from  that  we  have  just  sketched.  Here  the  French  had 
obtained  a  foothold  in  the  seventeenth  century  and  a 
few  weak  schools  had  been  established  in  their  settlements. 
When  the  territory  was  organized  in  1800  Congress  granted 
the  prospective  state  two  townships  of  land  for  a  university 
and  the  customary  sixteenth  section  for  common  schools. 
In  1806  the  territorial  legislature  created  the  Vincennes 
University,  which  was  to  be  supported  out  of  the  funds 
arising  from  the  disposal  of  the  university  lands.  This 
school  was  opened  in  18 10,  but  had  a  poor  start  and  a 
precarious  existence.  The  funds  were  neglected  or 
wrongly  administered,  and  after  a  few  years  of  doubtful 
promise  the  institution  went  into  a  decline  from  which  it 
never  recovered.  Nominally  it  was  a  public  school,  but 
it  received  no  government  aid  save  the  land  grant,  and 
was  finally  abandoned  by  the  state  in  1824.^  Later, 
it  is  true,  it  was  resurrected,  and  continued  to  play  a  part  in 
the  educational  history  of  the  state,  but  its  later  changes 
have  no  essential  interest  for  our  present  study. 

Theoretically  and  ideally  Indiana  started  her  career 
as  a  state  with  provisions  for  a  system  of  education  that 
had  few  equals  and  no  superiors  in  the  world.     Her 

1  Coggeshill,  op.  cit.,  p.  85. 

2  Woodburn,  op.  cit.,  p.  35. 


The  Early  Northwest  75 

constitution,  adopted  in  1816  when  the  territory  was 
admitted  into  the  Union,  contained  the  following 
significant  clauses : 

"Knowledge  and  learning  generally  diffused  throughout 
a  community  being  essential  to  the  preservation  of  a 
free  government,  and  spreading  the  opportunities  and 
advantages  of  education  through  the  various  parts  of  the 
country  being  highly  conducive  to  this  end,  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  .the  general  assembly  to  provide  by  law  for  the 
improvement  of  such  lands  as  are,  or  hereafter  may  be, 
granted  by  the  United  States  to  this  state  for  the  use  of 
schools."  ^  Another  clause  then  provides  that  these  lands 
should  not  be  sold  prior  to  1820  —  the  state  having  taken 
a  lesson  apparently  from  Ohio  and  from  its  own  territorial 
experiences. 

Again  we  read:  "The  general  assembly  shall  from 
time  to  time  pass  such  laws  as  shall  be  calculated  to 
encourage  intellectual,  scientific,  and  agricultural 
improvements." 

It  is  true  these  are  rather  indefinite  and  high-sounding 
generalities  and  might  have  signified  little  real  intent  or 
purpose,  but  they  are  supplemented  by  another,  a  most 
ambitious  and  praiseworthy  section.  It  reads:  "It  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  general  assembly  as  soon  as  circum- 
stances will  permit  to  provide  by  law  for  a  general  system 
of  education  ascending  in  regular  gradation  from  township 
schools  to  a  State  University  wherein  tuition  shall  be 
gratis  and  equally  open  to  aU."^ 

One  searches  in  vain  for  a  loftier  ideal  of  education 
anywhere  expressed  in  the  constitution  or  laws  of  any 
other  state  or  country.  Here  in  the  backwoods,  nearly 
one  himdred  years  ago,   was  annoimced  not  only  an 

1  Quoted  by  Woodbum,  ibid.,  pp.  39-40.  , 

2  Ibid.,  p.  40. 


76  Public  Secondary  Education 

aspiration  but  an  avowed  state  policy  that  few  states 
in  America  and  few,  if  any,  states  or  countries  outside 
America  have  reached  in  practice  to  this  day.  Here 
was  authorized  a  system  of  education  that  had  no  breaks 
or  gaps  throughout  its  extent  and  hence  called  for  no 
mechanical  schemes  of  articulation  or  correlation.  It  was 
to  be  an  organic  whole,  and  in  the  terms  of  the  constitution 
it  anticipated  by  fifty  years  Huxley's  vision  of  an  educa- 
tional ladder  which  reaches  from  the  gutter  to  the  univer- 
sity. It  is  true,  indeed,  that  educational  history  is 
replete  with  references  to  isolated  educational  leaders  and 
reformers  who  have  pitched  educational  theory  and 
practice  to  as  high  a  key,  but  history  does  not  reveal,  I 
think,  the  like  of  a  whole  convention  of  pioneers  giving 
expression  to  a  piece  of  wisdom  so  lofty.  Alas  that  it 
should  have  remained  so  long  only  a  recommendation,  or 
at  most  only  an  unenforced  dictum  or  decree! 

This  constitutional  plan  was  doubtless  impossible  of 
realization  anywhere  in  the  Northwest  at  the  time. 
Though  the  electors  of  Indiana  approved  the  constitution 
and  adopted  it  as  the  binding  fundamental  law  of  their 
commonwealth,  still  the  advanced  views  embodied  in  the 
sections  on  education  do  not  represent  the  true  feeling 
and  aspirations  of  the  people  as  a  whole.  Most  of  the 
settlers  of  this  region,  says  Woodburn,  were  poor,  ignorant, 
indifferent,  self-satisfied,  lazy,  and  slovenly.^ 

They  adopted  the  constitution  as  a  matter  of  course; 
the  ideals  therein  set  forth  were  far  beyond  their  compre- 
hension or  desires.  In  consequence  Indiana's  public 
schools,  instead  of  approaching  an  advanced  standard, 
were  far  behind  the  actual  conditions  found  in  some  other 
parts  of  the  Union.  Indeed,  it  was  not  until  after  the 
constitution  was  revised  in  185 1  that  Indiana  had  any 

I  Woodburn,  op.  cit.,  p.  36. 


The  Early  Northwest  77 

actual  common-school  system  at  all,  and  in  the  meantime 
general  education  was  at  such  low  ebb  that  the  schools 
furnished  a  theme  for  ridicule  even  by  her  own  writers.^ 
Since  that  time  the  state  has  made  a  most  remarkable 
advance  in  every  field  of  education,  but  this  recent  history 
does  not  rightly  belong  to  our  present  discussion. 

Nevertheless  the  legislature  did  not  wholly  neglect  its 
duty.  The  same  year  Indiana  was  admitted  to  the 
Union  a  law  was  enacted  providing  that  any  township 
might,  on  the  petition  of  twenty  householders,  elect  three 
trustees  who  in  turn  might  take  steps  to  supply  school 
instruction.  Few  townships  took  advantage  of  the 
permission.  In  182 1  a  serious  attempt  was  made  to 
establish  a  state-wide  school  system.  A  Commission  was 
appointed  to  draft  a  plan  and,  acting  on  its  recommenda- 
tions, the  legislature  again  enacted  a  law  providing  for 
permissive  township  schools.  Still,  few  were  opened,  and 
all  that  were  established  were  supported  by  tuition  fees, 
called  "rates."  In  1833  county  school  commissioners 
were  authorized,  and  in  1837  other  changes  were  made 
in  the  school  law,  but,  as  we  have  stated,  with  little 
result. 

As  a  general  thing,  life  in  the  Northwest  during  these 
early  days  was  too  strenuously  spent  in  making  a  bare 
living  to  have  much  spirit  or  energy  for  what  was  termed 
"schooling."  The  boys  could  better  devote  their  time  to 
assisting  in  the  manual  work  which  everywhere  was 
necessary.  The  few  pieces  of  money  that  came,  with 
hardship,  into  the  pioneer's  hands  could  better  be  devoted 
to  something  more  immediately  satisfying  than  the 
securing  of  an  education  for  his  children.  Book  learning 
was  a  luxury  which,  however  desirable  in  itself,  must  be 
foregone  until  more  favorable  days  should  arrive. 

1  One  recalls  in  this  connection  Edward  Eggleston's  The  Hoosier  Schoolmaster. 


78  Public  Secondary  Education 

Indeed,  there  was  excuse  and  justification  for  this 
attitude  on  the  part  of  many.  Communities  were  poor. 
Often,  too,  owing  to  an  insufficiency  of  wholesome, 
nourishing  food  and  to  an  excess  of  prolonged,  debilitating 
work,  families  were  in  a  state  of  chronic  ill  health.  Un- 
sanitary and  unhygienic  conditions  about  the  house  were 
only  too  common.  Fevers,  agues,  and  other  affections 
were  frequent.  Hard  work  and  small  returns  were 
the  common  inile.  Life  was  overburdened  with  natural 
cares  without  adding  artificial  cares.  In  the  light  of  the 
actual  conditions  then  existing  the  present  generation  is 
more  justified  in  applauding  what  men  did  accomplish 
than  in  deploring  and  censuring.  When  the  more 
favorable  time  came  the  men  and  the  women  of  the 
Northwest  arose  in  their  strength  and  made  good  their 
promises. 

All  that  has  so  far  been  mentioned  respecting  legislative 
provisions  for  public  education  has  had  reference  almost 
solely  to  the  primary  or  common-school  system.  Still, 
in  the  light  of  later  history,  a  discussion  of  this  phase  of 
education  is  both  justifiable  and  essential  to  the  treatment 
of  secondary  education,  since  throughout  the  whole 
Northwest  the  high  school  came  to  be  regarded,  popu- 
larly and  legally,  as  an  organic  part  of  the  common-school 
system,  and  was  made  to  conform  to  the  general  school 
law  the  same  as  was  the  .veriest  elementary  school. 
We  shall  later  have  occasion  to  consider  this  matter 
more  fully. 

For  a  tiine,  however,  both  in  Indiana  and  in  other  por- 
tions of  the  Northwest,  secondary  education  was  pro- 
vided in  other  ways.  Obviously,  if  the  nigh  school  is 
the  product  or  an  evolution  of  the  elementary  school,  it 
was  necessary  first  to  establish  the  schools  of  this  ele- 
mentary character.     Consequently  the  high  school,  as 


The  Early  Northwest  79 

such,  does  not  appear  in  the  Northwest  until  about  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  —  the  time  when  the 
common-school  system  had  become  thoroughly  and 
legally  established.  In  18 18  Indiana  empowered  her  gov- 
ernor to  appoint  a  seminary  trustee  in  each  county  in 
the  state,  and  authorized  this  officer  to  supervise  the 
accumulation  of  a  seminary  fund  and  to  loan  this  fund 
to  the  best, and  most  lucrative  advantage.^  All  moneys 
arising  from  the  net  balance  of  fines  and  forfeitures  were 
dedicated  to  this  cause.  Apparently,  however,  no 
seminary  was  opened  at  this  time. 

In  182 1  a  private  seminary  that  attracted  considerable 
local  attention  was  opened  in  Fayette  Cormty.  Influ- 
enced by  the  success  of  this  seminary,  Union  County 
shortly  after  this  date  applied  to  the  legislature  for  a 
special  charter  allowing  her  to  establish  a  county  seminary. 
The  request  was  granted,  and  the  school  was  opened 
at  Liberty  in  1825.^  Other  coimties  soon  followed  the 
example,  and  in  183 1  the  legislature,  by  general  law, 
authorized  a  seminary  of  this  kind  in  every  county. 

Simultaneously  there  arose  on  all  sides  similar  institu- 
tions called  academies  or  institutes,  that  differed  from 
seminaries  chiefly  in  their  legal  foundations.  These 
secured  their  charters  through  special  legislative  acts 
and  not,  like  the  seminaries,  through  the  operation  of  the 
general  laws.  The  academies  or  institutes,  too,  were 
generally  fathered  by  towns,  cities,  or  religious  denomi- 
nations rather  than  by  the  county.  The  first  of  these 
academies  was  established  at  Corydon  in  18 16.  A  second 
was  founded  at  Aurora  in  1823.^ 

In  respect  to  seminaries  and  academies  alike  the  expense 
for  bmldings,  fuel,  and  furnishings  was  met  by  the  County 

1  Woodburn,  op.  cit.,  p.  45. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  46. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  46. 


8o  Public  Secondary  Education 

Seminary  Fimd,  while  teachers'  salaries  were  paid  by 
means  of  rate  bills.  Many  of  these  institutions  of  both 
tj^'pes  were  ephemeral  and  weak,  and  shared  the  fate  of 
their  sister  institutions  of  like  grade  throughout  the 
Union.  Others  again  were  stable,  strong,  and  effective, 
and  filled  a  recognized  social  need.  They  served  here,  as 
elsewhere,  to  raise  the  standard  of  education;  to  fur- 
nish a  training  for  teachers;  to  popularize  the  idea  of 
universal  education;  and  to  meet  a  current  demand  at  a 
time  when  the  local  civil  authorities  could  not,  or  would 
not,  make  adequate  provision  for  schools. 

Up  to  1850  twenty-four  county  seminaries  had  been 
established  in  Indiana  and  thirty-seven  "seminaries  in 
general," — that  is,  academies  or  institutes.  Aboiit  this 
time  the  public  union  school  and  the  public  high  school 
made  their  appearance  in  the  state,  and  the  seminaries 
and  academies  rapidly  declined.  Some  were  transformed 
and  reorganized  into  colleges,  others  into  technical 
schools,  and  others  ceased  to  exist. ^ 

Despite  the  relatively  large  number  of  seminaries  and 
academies,  and  notwithstanding  the  legal  provisions  for 
a  system  of  elementary  schools,  education  in  Indiana 
during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  remained, 
as  we  have  hinted,  deplorable  indeed.  In  1840  "only 
about  one  child  in  eight  between  five  and  fifteen  is  able 
to  read.""  There  were  in  the  state  in  this  year,  273,784 
children  of  the  legal  school  age,  and  of  these  only  48,180 
were  in  schools  of  any  kind.  As  intimated  above,  the 
constitution  of  1851  sought  to  correct  the  abuses  and  to 
reform  the  educational  conditions.  Among  other  clauses 
provision  was  made  for  conserving  the  permanent  school 
fund,  and  to-day,  as  a  result  of  wise  administration,  this 

1  Woodburn,  op.  cil.,  p.  47- 

2  Ibid.,  p.  49. 


The  Early  Northwest  8i 

amounts  to  considerably  more  than  ten  million  dollars. 
In  addition  the  laws  of  the  state  permit  local  authorities 
to  levy  a  relatively  large  direct  annual  tax  for  school 
purposes,  so  that  as  a  result  of  these  revenues  Indiana 
has  at  present  a  system  of  schools  that  approaches  the 
ideal  set  for  herself  in  the  constitution  of  1816  —  a  system 
"ascending  in  regular  gradation  from  the  township  school 
to  a  State  University." 

The  early  history  of  education  in  Illinois  is  similar  to 
that  of  Indiana  and  need  not  detain  us  long  at  this  point. 
If  social  conditions  were  not  conducive  to  systematic 
education  in  the  latter  state,  they  surely  were  not  in  the 
former.  Here,  too,  in  an  early  day  the  French  had  held 
sway  and  probably  had  had  a  meager  school  at  Kaskaskia 
and  perhaps  at  other  posts.  When  the  territory  was 
thrown  open  to  English  settlers  late  in  the  eighteenth 
century  the  first  immigrants  were,  as  in  Indiana,  largely 
pioneers  from  the  South  Atlantic  States  who  had  found 
their  way  to  these  fertile  prairies  through  the  younger 
states  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  Many  of  the  new- 
comers from  these  districts  were  of  less  stem  stock  than 
were  the  settlers  from  New  England  and  the  Middle 
States  —  less  stem  in  moral  fiber,  in  religious  ideals,  and 
in  personal  worth.  Many  of  the  early  settlers  of  southern 
Indiana  and  southern  Illinois  were  descendants  of  the 
"indentured  servants"  and  the  paroled  prisoners  who,  in 
an  earlier  day,  had  constituted  so  large  a  class  in  certain 
sections  of  the  South.  Thrown  on  their  own  resources, 
and  being  of  a  shiftless  and  improvident  nature  both 
by  heredity  and  social  neglect,  many  of  these  poorer 
families  had,  by  stress  of  economic  conditions,  been 
forced  back  from  the  more  fertile  and  tillable  lands  near 
the  coast  and  had  taken  up  their  abodes  in  the  more 
distant  frontiers  of  the  region.  Here  land  was  cheaper 
7 


82  Public  Secondary  Education 

and  likewise,  for  the  most  part,  poorer.  The  combination 
of  an  improvident  and  shiftless  family  placed  on  a  sterile 
or  rugged  farm  does  not  yield  a  valuable  product  either 
in  men  or  in  produce.  Poverty  was  a  chronic  complaint 
with  most  of  these  backwoodsmen,  and  the  state  of 
material  want  bred  a  spirit  of  restlessness  and  dissatis- 
faction. Out  from  among  these  classes  came  many  of 
the  early  settlers  who  migrated  to  the  southern  portions 
of  Indiana  and  IlHnois.  ^  The  inhabitants  of  the  northern 
portions  were  of  a  different  stock  and  temperament  and 
came  into  these  territories  largely  from  Ohio,  New  York, 
and  Pennsylvania.  Still,  perhaps  the  predominating  in- 
fluence in  those  early  days  was  exerted  by  the  southern 
type  of  immigrant. 

Social  conditions  being  thus,  one  is  not  surprised  to 
read  that  Illinois  for  many  years  passed  through  a  vacil- 
lating school  policy,  and  that  she  established  a  state 
educational  system  rather  late  in  her  history. 

In  the  constitution  under  which  the  state  was  admitted 
to  the  Union  in  1818  not  one  word  respecting  schools  and 
education  is  to  be  found.  Nor  is  there  mention  made 
of  the  subject  in  any  of  the  territorial  laws  previous  to 
this  time.^  The  authorities  seem  to  have  gone  on  the 
theory  that  whatever  education  was  needed  in  the  terri- 
tory could  best  be  attended  to,  privately,  by  the  families 
interested. 

Nevertheless  Illinois,  like  the  other  states,  was  granted 
by  the  Federal  Government  the  sixteenth  section  of  land 
for  school  purposes.  To  protect  and  conserve  these 
lands  the  legislature  in  1 8 1 7  did  enact  a  law  that  may  be 
regarded  as  the  first  school  law  of  the  state.     At  the  same 

1  It  will  be  recalled  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  one  such  product  of  these 
conditions. 

2  Samuel  Willard.  "History  of  Education  in  Illinois"  in  the  ij/Zt  Public  School 
Report  of  Illinois,  for  1833  and  1S34.  P-  CIX. 


The  Early  Northwest  83 

time  the  legislature  incorporated  two  academies, —  one 
at  Edwardsville  called  the  Madison  Academy,  and  one 
at  Carlyle  called  the  Washington  Academy.^ 

In  1825  a  "free-school"  law  was  passed  in  which  pro- 
vision was  made  that  one  fiftieth  of  the  net  taxes  of  the 
state  should  be  appropriated  to  education,  but  the  follow- 
ing year  the  law  was  repealed.  In  1829  the  legislature 
"still  further  tinkered  the  school  law  in  a  small  way, 
more  completely  making  the  creation  of  a  school  an  affair 
of  volimtary  imion  or  subscription.  On  this  basis  it 
remained  till  1850."  ^ 

During  this  period,  however,  several  "colleges"  and 
seminaries  were  chartered,  and  the  funds  derived  from 
the  salt  lands  were  distributed  to  them.  Thus,  although 
the  state  did  not  during  all  this  time  take  an  aggressive 
stand  for  popular  education,  opportunities  for  instruction 
were  not  entirely  lacking.  The  more  enterprising  towns 
of  course  had  their  common  schools,  and  the  state  as  a 
whole  was  abundantly  supplied  with  private  and  denomi- 
national academies  and  seminaries.  Still,  there  was 
little  system  or  unity  found  anywhere.  Textbooks  were 
scarce  and  of  various  authorship  and  publications.  In 
1835,  for  example,  De  Witt  had  but  three  spelling  books 
to  serve  a  class  of  thirty  pupils.^  In  the  schools  pupils 
of  the  same  class  made  use  of  any  text  that  by  chance 
happened  to  be  available  or  had  been  handed  down  by 
older  children  of  the  family  or  commimity.  Some  of 
the  books  most  frequently  found  were:  The  Pleasant 
Companion;  the  New  Testament;  Murray's  English 
Reader;  and  Murray's  Introduction.  These  all  served  as 
readers.  Occasionally  copies  of  Weem's  Life  of  Marion, 
and  Weem's  Life  of  Washington  were  used.    The  other 

1  Ibid.,  p.  cix. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  ex. 

3  Ibid. 


84  Public  Secondary  Education 

more  common  works  were  Morse's  Geography,  Murray's 
or  Kirkham's  Grammar,  and  Pike's  Arithmetic.^ 

So  far  then  as  secondary  education  is  concerned,  down 
to  1850  none  was  given  in  Illinois  save  in  connection 
with  seminaries,  academies,  and  colleges;  and  in  the  light 
of  circvimstantial  evidence  one  can  well  believe  that, 
generally,   this  was  not  of  a  high  grade. 

Although  the  title  of  this  chapter  hardly  warrants  the 
consideration  here  of  the  schools  of  Wisconsin,  still,  for 
the  sake  of  convenience,  we  may  speak  briefly  of  them. 
This  state  did  not  pass  through  the  prolonged  and  vica- 
rious experiences  that  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois  suffered. 
Of  the  five  states  that  were  made  from  the  old  Northwest 
Territory,  Wisconsin  was  the  last  to  be  admitted  into  the 
Union. 2  It  was  settled  largely  by  immigrants  that  were 
considerably  unlike  the  early  settlers  of  Indiana  and 
Illinois,  and,  with  numerous  exceptions,  not  closely 
similar  to  those  of  Ohio  and  Michigan.  Being  a  younger 
state,  she  profited  immensely  from  the  experiences  of  her 
neighbors,  and  thus  was  able  to  shape  her  educational 
policy  so  as  to  gain  most  of  the  advantages  possessed  by 
the  older  states  and  at  the  same  time  to  avoid  the  mistakes 
and  difficulties  experienced  by  them.  Suffice  it  for  our 
purposes  to  say  that  from  near  the  outset  of  her  territorial 
history  attention  was  given  more  or  less  systematically 
to  the  question  of  education  and  to  schools. 

1  Willard  op.  cit.,  p.  CX. 

2  Wisconsin,  became  a  state  in  1848. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Early  Michigan 

THE  early  history  of  Michigan  is  not  greatly  dis- 
similar to  that  of  the  other  states  in  the  Northwest.^ 
Here,  too,  the  French  obtained  a  foothold  early  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  In  fact,  portions  of  Michigan  were 
visited  by  the  adventurous  representatives  of  this  nation 
earHer  than  was  any  other  district  in  this  part  of  the 
world.  The  routes  of  these  explorers  and  priests  lay 
through  Canada  westward  of  what  is  now  Montreal  and 
Quebec.  Lake  Huron  and  Lake  Superior  were  therefore 
discovered  prior  to  Lake  Erie,  and  settlements  were  made 
at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  and  Mackinac  long  before  the  English 
had  set  foot  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  or  Wisconsin,  and 
considerably  previous  to  the  French  explorations  there. 
Father  Marquette,  La  Salle,  Hennepin,  and  Joliet  had 
opened  regular  courses  or  trails  across  Michigan  as  early 
as  1680.  Cadillac  established  a  post  at  Detroit  in  1701. 
Until  the  close  of  the  French  and  Indian  War  in  1763 
these  two  allied  peoples,  the  French  and  the  Indians,  were 
completely  masters  of  the  whole  northwest  region.  With 
the  results  of  that  war  and  the  subsequent  changes  of 
authority  in  the  Northwest,  we  are  already  familiar.  For 
some  strange  reason  England,  after  the  Peace  of  Paris  in 
1763,  opposed  the  immediate  colonization  of  the  western 
territories  and,  by  royal  decree,  forbade  further  migra- 
tion into  them.  This  order  was  not,  however,  obeyed. 
Nevertheless,  until  after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary 

1  For  much  of  the  thought  incorporated  in  the  early  portion  of  this  chapter 
I  am  indebted  to  various  general  and  special  histories  which  deal  with  this  region  — 
some  of  these  are  the  works  of  Bancroft,  McMaster,  Cooley,  Campbell,  and 
Lanman. — also  to  the  Michigan  Pioneer  Collection  Volumes. 

85 


86  Public  Secondary  Education 

War  the  westward  movement  had  not  reached  beyond 
the  Ohio  River. 

The  Peace  of  1763  eliminated  one  nation  from  the 
Northwest  Territory;  the  Treaty  of  1783  nominally 
banished  another.  There  was  only  one  other  human 
contestant  left  —  the  Indian ;  and,  truly,  he  was  never 
permanently  subdued  until  practically  exterminated. 
Nevertheless  the  victories  of  Wayne  in  1794  and  1795 
brought  him  sufficiently  imder  subjection  to  encourage 
migration,  and  from  this  date  the  Northwest  rapidly 
developed. 

But  even  with  the  French  entirely  ousted  as  a  political 
power,  the  English  nominally  excluded,  and  the  Indian 
temporarily  conquered,  not  all  enemies  and  dangers  had 
disappeared.  There  were  other  perils  before  which  any 
but  strong  hearts  and  steadfast  spirits  would  have  quailed. 
There  were  streams  to  cross,  forests  to  clear,  roads  to 
make,  and  homes  to  build;  there  were  wild  animals  to 
drive  away  and  prowling  Indians  to  watch;  there  was 
scantiness  of  food  and  clothing  and  a  greater  scantiness 
of  mental  nourishment;  there  were  dangers  from  dis- 
eases common  to  all  irregular  and  unhygienic  modes  of 
life  and  especially  common  to  portions  of  the  Northwest, 
owing  to  the  low  elevations  of  land  and  the  presence  of 
numerous  swampy,  marshy,  and  stagnant  waters.  These 
dank  and  dark  sections  polluted  the  air  with  noxious 
germs;  gave  birth  to  hordes  of  noisome  and  poisonous 
insects,  creeping  things,  and  reptiles;  and  filled  the  system 
with  malarial  affections.  Add  to  these  material  and 
physical  hardships,  the  lack  of  means  of  commimication, 
of  near-by  friends  and  neighbors,  of  books,  papers,  and 
magazines,  of  schools  and  chtu"ches,  and  one  gets  perhaps 
a  general,  though  miniature,  picture  of  what  pioneer  life 
in  the  Northwest  really  was. 


Early  Michigan  87 

These  conditions  apply  pretty  generally  to  all  parts  of 
this  territory,  but  are  especially  true  of  the  district 
lying  in  southeastern  Michigan.  Along  the  shores  of 
Lake  St.  Clair  and  Lake  Erie,  as  well  as  on  the  banks  of 
the  Detroit  and  St.  Clair  rivers,  the  land  is  still,  through- 
out much  of  its  extent,  low,  marshy,  and  untillable. 
One  hundred  and  twenty  years  ago,  before  artificial 
drainage  was  known;  when  the  luxuriant  vegetation 
caused  perhaps  a  greater  annual  precipitation  of  rainfall; 
and  when  surely  the  uncleared  trees,  brush,  and  grasses 
checked  the  ready  entrance  of  the  sunlight  and  winds 
and  thus  prevented  the  rapid  evaporation  of  this  moisture, 
one  cannot  doubt  that  the  climatic  conditions  were  not 
salubrious.  Of  course,  as  is  well  known  to-day,  the  lands 
lying  back  from  this  border  belt  are  of  considerable 
elevation,  enjoy  a  healthful  climate,  and  are  exceedingly 
fertile.  But  this  fact  was  not  discovered  or  accepted 
for  several  years  after  the  Northwest  was  opened  for 
settlement.  Explorers  and  surveyors  judged  the  whole 
territory  of  Michigan  from  the  conditions  they  encoun- 
tered at  the  boundaries.  They  penetrated  to  the  shores 
of  the  Maumee  River  ;^  they  plowed  their  way  through 
the  lowlands  to  Detroit;  they  gazed,  from  this  edge,  off 
to  the  west  and  the  north;  and  then  they  returned  to 
report  that  Michigan  was  a  land  of  pestilence  and  poison 
— filled  with  reeds,  rushes,  and  flags;  the  breeding  place 
of  mosquitoes,  beetles,  and  snakes;  and  the  home  of 
chills,  fevers,  and  agues.  These  reports  were,  of  course, 
wide  of  the  truth.  Nevertheless,  they  had  the  effect  of 
deflecting  the  tide  of  western  migration  so  that  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Missouri  were  settled  and  admitted 

1  It  should  be  kept  in  mind  that,  until  1837,  the  southern  boundary  of  Michigan 
extended  from  the  southernmost  point  of  Lake  Michigan  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Maumee  River,  and  thus  Michigan  Territory  included  what  is  now  portions  of 
Toledo.     The  dispute  over  this  strip  of  land  led  to  the  Toledo  War,  settled  in  1837. 


88  Public  Secondary  Education 

into  the  Union  as  states  considerably  before  Michigan 
was  truly  discovered.  Even  after  the  falsity  of  the  early 
reports  had  been  proved  there  seemed  to  be  a  superstitious 
fear  about  entering  this  "God-forsaken  land,"  and  it 
was  only  late  in  the  third  decade  of  the  century  that 
extensive  migration  really  set  in  toward  this  district. 

In  many  ways,  however,  these  delays  in  settlement 
redounded  to  the  educational  advantage  of  Michigan. 
Reference  has  already  been  made  several  times  to  the 
extensive  land  grants  made  to  the  various  states  by  the 
Federal  government  for  school  purposes.  We  have  seen, 
too,  that  owing  to  inexperience,  to  indifference,  to  the 
more  or  less  chaotic  social  and  legal  conditions  existing 
in  the  territories,  to  an  unfortunate  principle  in  the  land 
ordinance  itself,  and  to  the  abundance  and  cheapness  of 
land  on  all  sides  there  developed  a  carelessness  of,  if  not  a 
veritable  contempt  for,  the  gift,  and  consequently  there 
resulted,  ultimately,  a  great  public  misfortune.  Much  of 
the  proceeds  that  might  have  been  obtained  from  these 
school  sections  was  never  secured,  and  much  of  the 
fund  that  was  derived  was  ill  administered  and  either 
wasted  or  lost. 

Michigan,  as  we  have  hinted,  profited  from  the  experi- 
ences of  these  earlier  states  and  avoided  many  of  the 
pitfalls  into  which  they  had  plunged.  Moreover,  a 
fortunate  change  in  the  Federal  policy  and  a  happy 
wording  of  the  later  ordinances  respecting  land  grants 
secured  for  Michigan,  as  a  unit,  the  control  of  school 
lands,  and  thus  brought  to  bear  a  more  intelligent,  con- 
sistent, and  far-sighted  administration  of  them.  While 
Michigan  did  not  derive  from  these  gifts  the  amotmts 
of  revenue  she  ought,  she  did  conserve  the  legacies  better 
than  most  of  the  states  preceding  her  had  done.  These 
lands  at  least  served  as  a  basis  for  planning  an  ideal  of 


Early  Michigan  89 

education  which,  if  not  entirely  realized  or  realizable, 
put  her  public  schools  far  in  advance  of  those  of  most 
of  the  states  adjoining  her. 

Another  important  contributing  factor  in  the  early 
history  of  education  in  Michigan  is  that  her  first  settlers 
were,  to  a  large  extent,  immigrants  either  directly  or 
indirectly  from  New  England,  and  hence  were  imbued 
with  the  New  England  idea  of  state  education  for  all. 
The  settlers  who  migrated  to  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Mis- 
souri were,  as  has  already  been  pointed  out,  drawn  largely 
from  the  South  and  the  Southeast.  The  immigrants 
to  Michigan  were,  for  the  most  part,  from  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut,  Vermont,  New  Hampshire,  and  western  New 
York,  while  many  of  those  from  this  latter  state  had,  in  an 
earlier  day,  moved  thither  from  New  England.  Natur- 
ally, therefore,  the  religious,  political,  social,  and  educa- 
tional ideas  of  the  East  came  to  predominate  noticeably 
in  this  new  territory  and  state. 

With  this  brief  sketch  of  Michigan's  early  social  and 
material  conditions,  let  us  turn  to  the  early  educational 
history. 

No  doubt  there  were  meager  elementary  schools  to  be 
found  at  the  various  military  posts  or  settlements  of  the 
French  from  an  early  day.  These  were  either  entirely 
private  in  character  or  else  were  under  the  control  and 
support  of  the  Catholic  Church,  whose  priests  and  mis- 
sionaries were  found  wherever  a  French  settlement  was 
made.  It  is  quite  certain  that  there  was  such  a  church 
school  at  Detroit  as  early  as  1755.  In  1775  a  private 
school  was  also  in  existence  here.^  Doubtless,  too,  there 
were  similar  schools  at  Mackinaw,  Sault  Ste.  Marie, 
and  other  places.  These,  however,  have  little  interest 
for  our  study. 

1  McLaughlin,  History  of  Higher  Education  in  Michigan,  p.  14. 


QO  Public  Secondary  Education 

The  true  foundation  for  the  educational  system  and  the 
educational  history  of  Michigan  was,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
other  states  admitted  after  1800,  the  famous  Land  Ordi- 
nance of  1785.  This  ordinance,  it  will  be  recalled,  pro- 
vided for  the  survey  of  all  public  lands  into  townships 
six  miles  square  and  containing  twenty-three  thousand 
and  forty  acres  each.  Starting  at  the  intersection  of 
a  chosen  meridian  called  the  "principal  meridian,"  and  a 
chosen  parallel  of  latitude  styled  the  "base  line,"  sur- 
veyors were  to  lay  off,  so  it  was  planned,  the  entire  terri- 
tory belonging  to  the  pubHc  domain.  Each  township 
was  in  turn  to  be  divided  into  thirty-six  equal  parts 
called  sections,  each  section  to  contain  one  thirty-sixth 
part  of  thirty-six  square  miles,  or  six  hundred  and  forty 
acres.  Again  each  section  was  subdivided  into  quarter 
sections  containing  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and 
finally  each  quarter  was  likewise  divided  into  four  equal 
parts  containing  forty  acres  each.  This  was  the  limit 
of  division  according  to  the  public  or  governmental 
survey.  The  last  two  types  of  division  have  no  immediate 
connection  with  our  theme.     The  other  two  have. 

In  order  to  plot  the  land  definitely  and  to  designate 
accurately  in  deeds,  mortgages,  and  other  legal  papers 
the  exact  portion  of  land  in  question,  the  government 
provided  that  each  section  of  each  township  should  bear 
a  distinct  number.  These  extend  from  one  to  thirty-six, 
and,  beginning  in  the  upper  or  northeast  section  of  each 
township,  are  numbered,  in  order,  across  and  back  that 
particular  division  of  thirty-six  square  miles.  The  plans 
or  ideas  are  graphically  shown  in  the  following  repre- 
sentations. 

Each  row  of  townships  to  the  east  or  to  the  west  of  the 
principal  meridian  is  styled  a  "range,"  and  these  ranges 
are  numbered  in  accordance  with  their  location  respecting 


Early  Michigan 


91 


the  principal  meridian.     Likewise,   each  row  of  town- 
ships north  or  south  of   the   base   hne   is   referred   to 

SIX    MILES 


6 

5 

4 

3 

2 

1 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

18 

17 

16 

15 

14 

13 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

30 

29 

28 

27 

26 

25 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

ONE 

MILE 

1 

160 

40 

Acres 

UJ 

-I 

2 

Ac,res 

I 

UJ 

z 
0 

1 

160 

1 

Ac|es 

1 

1 

N 


A    SECTION 


A    TOWNSHIP 

that  line  and  numbered  accordingly.  Hence  there  are 
townships  north  of  the  base  line  and  townships  south  of 
the  base  line.  There  are  also  ranges  east  of  the  princi- 
pal meridian  and  ranges  west  of  the  principal  meridian. 
The  following  diagram  represents  the  nomenclature 
graphically. 


BASE 


-a 


LINE 


w- 


To  locate   definitely  any  tract  of    land  above  forty 
acres  is,  therefore,  a  simple  and  easy  matter.    For  example, 


92  Public  Secoiidary  Education 

Township  4  North,  Range  3  East  (which  for  brevity  is 
written  Tp.  4N,  R3E)  signifies  the  township  which  lies 
in  the  row  of  townships  four  removes  north  of  the  base 
line  and  in  the  range  of  townships  three  removes  east 
of  the  principal  or  standard  meridian.  This  particular 
township  is  indicated  on  our  diagram  by  the  cross  (x). 
If,  further,  one  wishes  to  locate  section  sixteen  of  the 
above  township,  one  need  only  to  follow  down  the  sec- 
tions from  the  northeast  comer  of  the  township  to  nvmi- 
ber  sixteen,  which  necessarily  always  lies  near  the  center 
of  the  township.  Hence  when  Congress  granted  this 
section  in  each  township  to  school  purposes,  it  set  aside 
a  definitely  located  and  unvarying  portion  of  land. 
Chance,  of  course,  might  determine  that  section  niunber 
sixteen,  in  some  townships,  would  lie  in  fertile,  salubrious, 
and  highly  desirable  and  valuable  districts,  while  in  others 
it  might  coincide,  in  whole  or  in  part,  with  ponds,  lakes, 
swamps,  marshes,  mountains,  or  other  less  desirable 
tracts.  Nevertheless  the  average  value  was  usually 
high,  and  in  consequence  the  lands,  which  were  given  to 
the  territories  or  states  directly  as  wholes,  brought  into 
their  treasuries  considerable  sums.  Speaking  of  the  Ordi- 
nance of  1785,  Governor  Woodbridge  wrote  as  follows: 
"This  [the  Ordinance]  was  in  fact  an  invitation  to  all  the 
world  to  buy;  and  among  other  inducements  held  out, 
it  was  therein  promised  to  all  who  should  go  out  and 
settle  there,  that  one  thirty-sixth  part  of  the  whole  coun- 
try should  be  applied  forever  as  a  fimd  for  the  advance- 
ment of  Education.  It  contained  a  promise  to  all  who 
should  buy  there  —  it  amounted  to  a  solemn  covenant 
with  each  purchaser  and  settler  in  every  township,  that 
he  and  his  posterity  forever  should  in  all  future  time,  in 
common  with  the  other  settlers  in  the  township,  be  en- 
titled to  the  usufruct  of  that  fund  as  a  means  of  educating 


Early  Michigan  93 

his  children.  What  an  inducement  was  this  with  the 
father  of  a  family  to  go  out  and  settle  there."* 

However,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  earlier  pages  of  this 
chapter,  Michigan  was  not  rapidly  settled  at  first  because 
of  various  mistaken  notions  respecting  soil  and  climate. 
In  1803,  when  Ohio  was  admitted  to  the  Union,  there  were 
in  Michigan  Territory  probably  not  four  thousand  per- 
sons, and  these  were  mostly  French.^  In  181 1  "there 
were  in  Michigan  only  nine  principal  settlements.  These 
were  on  the  River  Miami,  the  Raisin,  the  Huron  of  Lake 
Erie,  Ecorse,  Rouge,  Detroit,  Huron  of  St.  Clair,  the 
Island  of  Mackinac,  besides  several  groups  of  cabins 
scattered  throughout  the  forest.  The  aggregate  popula- 
tion of  Michigan  at  that  time  was  4,860,  four  fifths  of 
whom  were  French,  and  the  remainder  Americans,  with 
a  small  portion  of  British."^  In  1820  the  settlers  had 
increased  to  ten  thousand — still  mostly  French  —  and 
by  1830  the  population  was  given  as  but  thirty- two 
thousand.*  After  1825  the  population  in  Michigan  in- 
creased rapidly,  owing  largely  to  the  opening  of  the  Erie 
Canal  in  that  year.  This  new  water  course  opened  a 
direct  means  of  communication  between  Detroit  and  the 
Atlantic  coast  and  thus  stimulated  trade  in  the  whole 
Northwest. 

When  Michigan  was  set  off  from  Indiana  in  1805,  some 
kind  of  a  school  law  seems  to  have  been  enacted,  but  all 
records  of  it  have  been  lost.  In  1809  a  second  school  law 
was  passed,  but  the  provisions  and  details  of  this  one 
are  likewise  iinknown.     In  1804  a  Catholic  girls'  academy 

1  Taken  from  a  letter  written  by  Governor  Woodbridge  of  Michigan  to  the 
Department  of  Education  of  that  state.  It  is  mentioned  in  Report  of  Public 
Instruction  for  Michigan  in  1853,  p.  2. 

2  Mayo,  "Education  in  the  Northwest,"  U.S.  Com.  Report,  1804-189$,  Vol.  2, 
pp.  I5i3#. 

3  Lanman,  History  of  Michigan,  pp.181-2,  and  based  on  the  "Memorial  from 
Michigan,"  in  American  State  Papers. 

4  Mayo,  ibid. 


Growth  of  population  from  1810  to  i8go 


94 


Early  Michigan  95 

was  established  at  Detroit  by  Father  Gabriel  Richard, 
an  influential  French  priest  who  was  stationed  in  Michigan 
at  that  time  and  who  later  played  a  notable  part  in  the 
history  of  public  education  in  the  territory.  Diaring 
this  same  year  there  was  opened,  also  at  Detroit,  a  boys' 
school,  in  which,  in  addition  to  the  elementary  subjects, 
Latin  and  history  were  to  be  taught.^ 

Both  of  these  schools  were  extremely  elementary  in 
character  and  were  not  public  schools  in  any  modern 
sense  of  the  phrase.  Indeed,  they  were  probably  sup- 
ported and  directed  entirely  by  the  Catholic  church. 
Since,  too,  at  this  time  most  of  the  inhabitants  at  Detroit 
were  French,  it  is  presumable  that  the  instruction  in 
these  schools  was  conducted  entirely  in  the  French  lan- 
guage. Whether  the  attendance  was  limited  to  adherents 
of  the  Catholic  church  is  not  known,  but  in  all  probability 
such  restriction  was  not  made.  At  best,  however,  little 
is  definitely  recorded  respecting  any  of  these  early  at- 
tempts at  education,  nor  are  their  histories  vital  to  our 
study. 

The  real  beginnings  of  a  system  of  public  schools  for 
Michigan  were  first  laid  in  181 7.  In  that  year  the  terri- 
torial legislature  passed  a  bill  creating  the  pretentious 
and  comprehensive  institution  called  the  "University  of 
Michigania."  This  strange  and  cumbersome  scheme  of 
education  has  been  made  a  subject  of  ridicule  and  raillery 
by  nearly  every  writer  who  has  dealt  with  the  history  of 
education  in   Michigan.     Each  one  seems  to  have  felt 

1  McLaughlin,  op.  cit.,  p.  15.  In  1808  Father  Richard  sent  a  memorial  to 
the  legislature  in  which  he  called  attention  to  the  schools  in  and  about 
Detroit  and  presented  their  needs.  He  declared  that  in  the  two  girls'  schools 
"better  thari  thirty  young  girls"  were  taught  reading,  writing,  arithmetic, 
knitting,  sewing,  spinning,  and  similar  subjects.  In  these  two  schools  were 
"three  dozen  spinning  wheels  and  one  loom  on  which  four  pieces  of  linen  or 
woolen  cloth"  had  been  made  the  past  spring  or  summer.  Orders  had  been 
given  for  the  purchase  of  "a  spinnmg  machine  of  a  hundred  spindles" — and 
for  a  "few  colors  for  dyeing  the  stuffs  already  made  or  to  be  made."  {Mich- 
igan Pioneer  Collection,  I,  p.  347.) 


96  Public  Secondary  Education 

it  incumbent  upon  him  to  strike  a  blow  at  this  weak  but 
venerable  project,  or  else  to  excuse  it  as  resulting  from 
hasty  and  ill-considered  action.  In  truth,  there  is  no 
denying  the  fact  that  the  plan  was  pedantic,  bombastic, 
and  even  ridiculous,  but  it  contained  in  essence  educational 
principles  that  were  far  beyond  the  ken  of  the  average 
citizen,  legislator,  or  educator  of  the  day,  and  indeed  far 
beyond  the  realization  in  practice  of  any  state  or  nation 
of  this  century. 

Neither  had  this  law  a  monopoly  on  all  the  pedantry, 
pretense,  and  high-sounding  phraseology  known  to  the 
day.  A  period  in  which  many  of  the  most  cultured  and 
most  scholarly  men  of  the  time  punctuated  and  empha- 
sized their  letters,  conversations,  and  addresses  with 
Latin  quotations  and  Latin  and  Greek  terms  and  refer- 
ences; a  time  when  magazine  writers  and  statesmen  were 
wont  to  fill  their  articles  with  allusions  to  Rome  and  to 
ancient  heroes ;  a  time  just  previous  to  which  a  proposition 
was  seriously  considered  and  all  but  adopted  in  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States  to  give  to  the  states  in  the 
Northwest  such  names  as  Cherronesus,  Metropotamia, 
Assenisippia,  Polypotamia,  and  Pelesipia^ — such  a  time 
could  expect  nothing  less  than  a  docimient  so  worded. 

Neither  is  the  idea  of  a  strongly  centralized  school 
system  inexplicable.  Michigan  was,  as  we  have  seen, 
still  largely  French  in  population,  and  the  French  ideas 
of  Louis  XIV,  Louis  XV,  and  Louis  XVI,  and  the 
centralizing  theories  of  Napoleon,  naturally,  to  many, 
furnished  the  ideal  of  government  and  of  state  policy. 
There  is  no  doubt,  too,  that  the  members  of  the  territo- 
rial legislature  were  influenced  by  legislation  and  opinion 
found  in  certain  other  states  in  America.     Twenty-one 

1  These  names  are  attributed  by  Professor  Hart  to  the  suggestion  of  Thomas 
Jefferson.  They  appear  in  the  Land  Ordinance  of  1784-  See  Hart's  Formation 
of  the  Union,  p.  108. 


Early  Michigan  97 

years  before,  Jefferson's  scheme  for  a  complete  system 
of  schools  for  Virginia  had  been  made  into  a  permis- 
sive law  for  that  state.  In  New  York,  as  early  as  1784, 
the  legislature  created  an  institution  which  in  many 
respects  was  then,  and  is  to-day,  very  similar  to  the  first 
school  authority  in  Michigan.^  Likewise,  too,  Georgia 
in  1785  established  a  university  to  which  the  institution 
of  Michigan  bore  close  resemblance.  Indeed,  in  the  act 
incorporating  the  University  of  Michigania  the  framers 
themselves  acknowledge  their  indebtedness  to  seven  of 
the  original  states. 

Though  the  substance  of  the  Act  passed  in  18 17  has 
often  been  put  into  print,  the  entire  bill  deserves  a  place 
in  this  treatment,  even  though  such  inclusion  be  at  the 
risk  of  tedium,  for  the  university  thus  created  is  still  in 
existence  and  its  early  history  was  most  intimately  con- 
nected with  secondary  education  in  the  state.  The  fiill 
text  follows : 

An  act  to  establish  the  Catholepistemiad,  or  University  of 
Michigania. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Governor  and  the  Judges  of  the  Territory  of 
Michigan,  That  there  shall  be  in  the  said  Territory  a  Cathol- 
epistemiad 2  or  University,  denominated  the  Catholepistemiad  or 
University  of  Michigania.  The  Catholepistemiad  or  University 
of  Michigania  shall  be  composed  of  thirteen  Didaxum  or  professor- 
ships; first  a  Didaxia  or  Professorship  of  Catholepistemia,  or 
universal  science,  the  Didactor  or  professor  of  which  shall  be  Presi- 
dent of  the  Institution;  Second,  a  Didaxia  or  professorship  of 
Anthropoglossica  or  literature  embracing  all  the  Epistemum  or 
sciences  relative  to  language;  Third,  a  Didaxia  or  professorship 
of  Mathematica  or  Mathematics;  Fourth,  a  Didaxia  or  professor- 
ship of  Physiognostica,  or  Natural  History;  Fifth,  a  Didaxia  or 
professorship  of  Physiosophica  or  Natural  Philosophy;  Sixth,  a 
Didaxia  or  professorship  of  Astronomia  or  Astronomy;    Seventh, 

1  Brown,  The  Making  of  Our  Middle  Schools,  p.  209. 

2  For  an  explanation  of  the  terms  used  here,  see  Campbell's  Political  History  of 
Michigan,  p.  388;  or  Salmon's  Education  in  Michigan  during  the  Territorial  Period, 
p.  4,  note. 

8. 


gS  Public  Secondary  Education 

a  Didaxia  or  professorship  of  Chymia  or  Chemistry;  Eighth,  a 
Didaxia  or  professorship  of  latuca  or  Medical  Sciences;  Ninth,  a 
Didaxia  or  professorship  of  Oeconomia,  or  Economical  Sciences; 
Tenth,  a  Didaxia  or  professorship  of  Ethica,  or  Ethical  Sciences; 
Eleventh,  a  Didaxia  or  professorship  of  Polemitactics,  or  Military 
Sciences;  Twelfth,  a  Didaxia  or  professorship  of  Diegetica,  or 
Historical  Sciences;  and  Thirteenth,  a  Didaxia  or  professorship  of 
Eunoeica,  or  Intellectual  Sciences,  embracing  all  the  Epistemum 
or  sciences  relative  to  the  minds  of  animals,  to  the  human  mind,  to 
spiritual  existence,  to  the  Deity,  and  to  Religion;  the  Didactor  or 
professor  of  which  shall  be  Vice  President  of  the  Institution.  The 
Didactors  or  professors  shall  be  appointed  and  commissioned  by 
the  Governor.  There  shall  be  paid  from  the  Treasury  of  Michigan, 
in  quarterly  payments,  to  the  President  of  the  Institution,  and  to 
each  Didactor  or  Professor,  an  annual  salary  to  be  from  time  to  time 
ascertained  by  law.  More  than  one  Didaxia  or  professorship  may 
be  conferred  upon  the  same  person.  The  President  and  Didactors, 
or  professors,  a  majority  of  them  assembled,  shall  have  power  to 
regulate  all  the  concerns  of  the  Institution,  to  enact  laws  for  that 
purpose,  to  sue,  to  be  sued,  to  acquire,  to  hold  and  to  alien  property, 
real,  mixed  and  personal,  to  make,  to  use  and  to  alter  a  seal,  to 
establish  colleges,  academies,  schools,  libraries,  museums,  athe- 
noeums.  Botanic  gardens,  laboratories,  and  other  useful  literary 
and  scientific  institutions,  consonant  to  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  of  Michigan,  and  to  appoint  officers,  in- 
structors and  instructri  in,  among,  and  throughout  the  various 
counties,  cities,  towns,  townships,  and  other  geographical  divisions 
of  Michigan.  Their  name  and  style  as  a  corporation,  shall  be 
"The  Catholepistemiad  or  University  of  Michigania."  To  every 
subordinate  instructor  and  instructrix,  appointed  by  the  Cathol- 
epistemiad or  University  there  shall  be  paid  from  the  treasury  of 
Michigan,  in  quarterly  payments,  an  annual  salary,  to  be,  from  time 
to  time,  ascertained  by  law.  The  existing  public  taxes  are  hereby 
increased  fifteen  per  cent;  and  from  the  proceeds  of  the  present, 
and  of  all  future  public  taxes  fifteen  per  cent  are  appropriated  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Catholepistemiad  or  University.  The  Treasurer 
of  Michigan  shall  keep  a  separate  account  of  the  University  fund. 
The  Catholepistemiad  or  University  may  prepare  and  draw  four 
successive  lotteries,  deducting  from  the  prizes  in  the  same  fifteen 
per  cent  for  the  benefit  of  the  Institution.  The  proceeds  of  the 
preceding  sources  of  revenue,  and  of  all  subsequent,  shall  be  applied. 


Early  Michigan  99 

in  the  first  instance,  to  the  acquisition  of  suitable  lands  and  build- 
ings, and  books,  libraries  and  apparatus,  and  afterwards  to  such 
purposes  as  shall  be,  from  time  to  time,  by  law  directed.  The  ■ 
Honorarium  for  a  course  of  lectures  shall  not  exceed  fifteen  dollars: 
for  classical  instruction,  ten  dollars  a  quarter,  and  for  ordinary 
instruction,  six  dollars  a  Quarter.  If  the  Judges  of  the  court  of 
any  county,  or  a  majority  of  them  shall  certify  that  the  parent  or 
guardian  of  any  person  has  not  adequate  means  to  defray  the 
expense  of  suitable  instruction,  and  that  the  same  ought  to  be  a 
public  charge,  the  honorarium  shall  be  paid  from  the  Treasury  of 
Michigan.  An  annual  report  of  the  Institution  shall  be  laid  before 
the  legislative  power  for  the  time  being.  This  law,  or  any  part  of 
it,  may  be  repealed  by  the  legislative  power,  for  the  time  being. 
Made,  adopted  and  published  from  the  laws  of  seven  of  the  original 
states,  to  wit:  the  states  of  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  New 
Jersey,  New  York,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  and  Virginia,  as  far  as 
necessary  and  suitable  to  the  circumstances  of  Michigan,  at  Detroit, 
on  Tuesday  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  August,  in  the  year  of  our 

Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventeen. 

William  Woodbridge, 
Secretary  of  Michigan  and  at  present  acting  Governor  thereoi. 

A.  B.  Woodward, 
Presiding  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan. 

John  Griffin, 
One  of  the  Judges  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan. i 

Here,  then,  was  a  central  Board  of  Education  having 
charge  of  the  whole  subject  of  education  within  the  state 
and  empowered  to  estabhsh  schools  of  all  kinds  and  grades, 
to  appoint  instructors  and  supervisors  in  them,  and  to 
administer  all  funds  that  might  accrue  from  any  and  all 
sources  for  the  support  of  education.  The  central  board 
was  to  serve  in  the  double  capacity  of  a  teaching  and 
an  admiinistering  body.  Thirteen  professorships  were 
created  and  the  holders  of  two  of  these,  specifically 
named,  were  to  be  the  president  and  the  vice-president, 
respectively,  of  the  tmiversity.  The  support  of  the  insti- 
tution was  provided  for  by  increasing  the  tax  rate  fifteen 

1  This  transcribed  Act  is  incorporated  in  the  annual  report  of  Superintendent 
F.  W.  Shearman  for  1852,  and  is  certified  to  by  the  Deputy  Secretary  of  State, 
R.  R.  Gibson,  as  "a  true  copy  of  the  original."  See  Shearman's  Public  Instruction 
and  School  Law  of  Michigan  for  1852,  pp.  4  and  5. 


roo  Public  Secondary  Education 

per  cent,  and  by  authorizing  four  lotteries.  In  addition, 
the  university  had  the  proceeds  of  forty-six  thousand  and 
eighty  acres  of  land — that  is,  two  whole  townships  — 
granted  to  the  territory  by  the  Federal  government  for 
the  encouragement  and  support  of  a  seminary  of  learning. 
This  was  increased  by  the  gift  of  three  whole  sections  of 
land  generously  granted  by  the  Indians  for  the  support 
of  a  central  college  to  be  located  at  Detroit.  This  bequest 
was  made  by  the  chiefs  of  the  Ottawas,  Chippewas,  and 
Pottawatomies  in  the  treaty  of  Fort  Meigs,  signed  at 
Detroit,  September  29,  1817.^ 

When  one  further  analyzes  this  historic  document  he 
is  struck  by  several  far-reaching  and  advanced  principles 
that  are  incorporated  in  it.  First  and  foremost  the  atten- 
tion- is  fixed  on  the  scope  of  the  educational  fields  that 
were  to  be  tilled.  These  embrace  the  whole  group  of 
literature,  science,  and  the  arts,  together  with  the  depart- 
ments of  philosophy,  medicine,  divinity,  and  military 
tactics.  The  only  traditional  college  subject  that  seems 
to  be  lacking  is  that  of  law,  and  the  intention  may  have 
been  to  treat  of  this  under  one  of  the  given  Didaxum. 
Moreover,  in  administering  education,  provision  is  made 
for  schools  of  every  grade — from  the  elementary,  through 
the  secondary,  to  the  college  and  the  university.  Like- 
wise, too,  full  power  is  given  to  establish  collateral  school 
agencies  like  libraries,  museums,  and  laboratories. 

A  second  underlying  principle  found  here  is  that  of  the 
complete  public  control  and  support  of  schools.  In  the 
Act  itself  no  indication  is  given  that  private  or  denomi- 
national schools  would  not  be  allowed,  but  the  idea  seems 
to  have  been  to  make  the  state  system  so  complete  that 
there  would  be  neither  need  nor  place  for  any  other  type 
of  schools. 

1  Cooley,  History  of  Michigan,  p.  312. 


Early  Michigan  loi 

Again,  the  principle  of  concentration  of  power  finds 
here  ample  expression.  It  may  seem  a  little  strange  that 
a  territory  that  was  but  two  years  out  from  under  the 
nominal  military  control  of  tyrannical  George  III,  and 
was  surrounded  by  examples  of  the  principle  of  decen- 
tralization in  school  matters,  should  voluntarily  choose 
this  course,  but  the  French  traditions  and  the  French 
constituency  in  the  territory  at  this  time  doubtless  give 
the  explanation. 

Then,  there  are  seen  the  principle  of  accountability  of 
public  servants  to  the  people  represented  in  their  legis- 
lattu"e;  the  exact  auditing  of  funds;  and  the  education  of 
the  poor  and  needy  at  full  public  expense.  Education  is 
not  made  compulsory,  or  absolutely  free,  but  it  is  made 
possible  for  all  ranks  and  classes. 

Acting  on  the  powers  bestowed  in  this  strange  document 
the  governor  of  the  territory  appointed  the  first  faculty 
of  the  imiversity.  Inasmuch  as  authority  was  expressly 
given  whereby  one  person  might  hold  more  than  one 
"Didaxia"  or  professorship,  the  courses  were  so  grouped 
and  the  work  so  adjusted  that  two  men  alone  constituted 
the  first  educational  system  of  the  territory.  Rev.  John 
Monteith,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  was  made  president 
and  weighted  with  seven  professorships,  and  Father 
Gabriel  Richard,  the  Catholic  priest  previously  men- 
tioned in  this  chapter,  was  made  vice-president  and  given 
six  professorships.  Their  salaries  were  fixed  by  law  at 
twelve  dollars  and  one-half  per  year  for  each  professor- 
ship. Thus  the  president  for  his  services  was  to  receive 
the  munificent  sum  of  eighty-seven  dollars  and  one-half, 
annually,  and  his  able  assistant  was  expected  to  content 
himself  with  what  seventy-five  dollars  could  purchase. 
Here,  truly,  is  an  illustration  of  the  world's  policy  of 
paying  her  educators  largely  in  honors  that  may  satisfy 


102  Public  Secondary  Education 

the  spirit,  rather  than  in  generous  portions  of  lucre  that 
may  contribute  to  the  physical  needs.  The  dictum  of 
"plain  living  and  high  thinking"  has,  in  the  teacher's 
calling,  not  only  been  arbitrarily  enforced  but  has  been 
worn  through  with  triteness.  Nevertheless,  no  word  of 
complaint  seems  to  have  escaped  either  from  Mr.  Mon- 
tieth  or  from  Mr.  Richard,  but,  like  good  schoolmen 
ever,  they  both  served  their  generation  and  left  posterity 
to  judge  of  their  true  merits. 

The  scheme  for  the  university  as  it  was  planned  never 
went  into  operation.  However,  some  elementary  edu- 
cation was  encouraged,  and  at  Detroit  an  elementary 
school  was  established.  Possibly  similar  schools  were 
started  at  Monroe  and  Mackinaw.^  In  October  of  this 
same  year,  1817,-  a  college  or  academy  was  opened  in 
Detroit  and  was  styled  the  "First  College  of  Michigania." 
The  resources  for  this  school  were  derived  in  part  from 
the  territorial  funds  at  the  disposal  of  the  faculty  of  the 
university ;  in  part  from  the  sections  of  land  granted  by  the 
Indians  specifically  for  this  school ;  and  in  part  from  free- 
will contributions  by  the  citizens  of  Detroit.  The  larg- 
est share  of  the  funds  was  secured  from  this  last  source.^ 

In  18 18  a  classical  school  was  also  opened  in  Detroit. 
This  school,  together  with  a  library,  occupied  the  second 
floor  of  a  new  building  erected  for  its  accommodation, 
while  the  English  school  was  conducted  on  the  first  floor. 
Here  then  is  a  suggestion  of  a  "high  school"^  four  years 
before  the  establishment  of  the  Boston  English  Classical 

1  McLaughlin,  op.  cit.,  p.  82. 

2  The  cornerstone  of  this  so-called  "first  hall  of  the  University"  was  laid 
Sept.  26,  1817.  (See  Detroit  Gazette  for  Sept.  26,  1817,  as  indicated  by  Miss 
Salmon,  op.  cit.,  p.   11.) 

3  The  school,  of  course,  was  not  called  the  "High  School."  It  was  really  the 
first  branch  of  the  "University."  Its  teachers  were  authorized  by  the  university 
and  the  university  exercised  supervision  over  it.  No  taxes  were  ever  raised  for  it, 
and  no  lottery  sold.  "The  only  sense  in  which  it  could  be  called  a  public  school 
is  that  instruction  was  given  in  a  building  erected  by  general  subscription."  The 
Classical  Academy  was  kept  up  as  part  of  the  university  until  October,  1827, 
(Salmon,  op.  cit.,  pp.  13  and  14.) 


Early  Michigan  103 

School  and  about  six  years  before  the  word  "high"  was 
used  to  designate  that  school.  The  Faculty  of  the 
University  of  Michigania  voted  that  the  program  of 
studies  to  be  offered  in  this  classical  school  should  consist 
of  "French,  Latin,  and  Greek  antiquities,  EngHsh  gram- 
mar, composition,  elocution,  mathematics,  geography, 
morals,  and  ornamental  accomplishments."^ 

The  project  of  a  college  at  Detroit  did  not  flourish, 
and  in  a  year  or  so  seems  to  have  been  abandoned.  None 
of  the  other  attempts  at  the  establishment  of  schools  was 
very  successful,  and  the  university  authorities  appear 
to  have  made  no  further  efforts  to  exercise  their  powers. 

In  182 1  the  legislature  repealed  the  law  of  181 7  in  its 
entirety.  At  the  same  time,  however,  it  enacted  a  new 
law  establishing  or  perpetuating  the  same  type  of 
institution  as  the  old  Catholepistemiad,  but  under  less 
pretentious  nomenclature  and  with  powers  more  defi- 
nitely distributed.  In  place  of  imposing  all  authority  on 
a  teaching  faculty  or  board,  the  new  organization  —  called 
now  simply  the  University  of  Michigan  —  was  composed 
of  twenty-one  trustees.  To  them  were  delegated  essen- 
tially the  same  administrative  powers  that  the  old  board 
possessed, — that  is,  the  sole  conduct  of  all  public  educa- 
tion in  the  territory.  They  were  given  authority  to 
establish  secondary  schools  which  should  be  dependent 
on  the  university,  to  visit  and  inspect  these  schools,  to 
make  all  necessary  rules  and  regulations  respecting  them, 
and  to  appoint  and  remove  teachers  within  them. 

This  same  law  of  182 1  also  repealed  the  provision  for  a 
territorial  educational  tax  of  fifteen  per  cent,  and  thereby 
forced  the  university  to  depend  for  its  funds  entirely 
upon  gifts  and  upon  the  proceeds  from  public  lands 
specifically  devoted  to  this  end. 

1  Salmon,  op.  cit.,  p.  s. 


T' 


104  Public  Secondary  Education 

The  legislation  of  182 1,  with  some  subsequent  slight 
modifications  of  detail,  remained  in  force  until  1837,  when 
Michigan  was  admitted  to  the  Union  as  a  state.  During 
all  this  time,  however,  the  university  as  a  central  college 
existed  only  in  name,  nor  was  any  attention  given  to 
providing  dependencies  or  branch  secondary  schools 
other  than  one  at  Detroit,^  This  endured,  as  we  have 
said,  until  October,  1827.^ 

These  two  laws  of  18 17  and  182 1  do  nevertheless  reveal 
certain  general  tendencies  and  contain  beneath  their 
verbiage  certain  great  educational  principles  upon  which 
Michigan  has  always  built  her  practice.  Miss  Salmon 
in  her  study  of  Education  in  Michigan  during  the  Terri- 
torial Period  aptly  summarizes  them  in  this  form :  "First, 
the  State  thus  early  announced  the  policy  of  carrying 
on  Education  at  public  expense  rather  than  leaving  it 
entirely  to  private  philanthrop}^  whim,  or  diversity; 
second,  that  the  University  as  a  school  was  to  be  the  head 
and  crown  of  the  whole  state  system  and  that  all  ele- 
mentary, secondary,  and  collegiate  instruction  was  to 
bear  a  close  relation  to  the  work  in  the  University;  third, 
that  the  University  was  to  be  and  remain  forever  an  abso- 
lutely non-sectarian  institution;  fourth,  courses  of  study 
were  to  be  made  so  complete  that  there  would  be  no 
temptation  offered  to  the  youth  of  the  State  to  go  else- 
where for  an  education,  even  of  a  professional  character; 
and,  fifth,  instruction  was  to  be  placed  within  the  reach 
of  all  by  reducing  the  expense  to  a  minimtim.  "^ 

As  previously  noticed,  there  is  much  in  these  two 
acts  that  suggests  French  influences  and  French  pro- 
pensities within  the  state.  Like  the  French  government 
at  home,  these  laws  provided  no  exercise  of  democratic 

1  op.  oil.,  p.  13. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  14. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  5. 


Early  Michigan  105 

or  local  initiative,  but  specifically  planned  for  a  cen- 
tralized, bureaucratic,  and  paternalistic  domination. 
There  is  no  suggestion  of  the  English  idea  of  communal 
self-government.  The  people  of  the  Territory  of  Michi- 
gan at  this  time  neither  knew  nor  cared  for  the  rights 
of  suffrage,  representative  government,  or  self -direction. 
Indeed,  they  probably  as  a  class  were  not  fit  for  the 
exercise  of  these  high  functions  of  liberty. 

The  Ordinance  of  1787  provided  that  whenever  any 
organized  territory  attained  to  a  population  of  five 
thousand  souls  it  should  be  entitled  to  an  elected  house 
of  representatives  which  should  exercise  joint  authority 
with  the  appointed  council.  In  18 18  Michigan  possessed 
the  requisite  number  of  inhabitants  and  the  decision  was 
left  to  the  citizens  whether  or  not  they  would  send  repre- 
sentatives to  the  legislature.  The  proposition  was  voted 
down  most  emphatically  and  overwhelmingly.^  The 
people  seemed  not  to  wish  the  trouble  of  conductmg  their 
own  affairs.  It  was  so  much  easier  to  have  government 
imposed  upon  them  than  to  devise  and  execute  laws  for 
themselves.  Contented  shiftlessness,  whose  only  wish 
is  to  be  left  alone,  is  so  much  more  easily  preserved  than  is 
self-exertion  that  aims  at  ideals  which  are  beyond  the 
immediate  reach.  This  was  the  spirit  that  prevailed 
among  many  citizens  of  this  territory  in  the  days  before 
1825.  This  was  the  spirit  that  largely  explains  the  fact 
that  the  French  in  America  in  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  did  not  develop  enough  energy  and  real  purpose 
to  make  their  hold  here  permanent.  This  spirit  was  the 
characteristic  spirit  of  the  French  peasants  and  burghers 
of  the  seventeenth  century. 

Still  the  delay  of  freedom — self-imposed,  as  it  were — 
carried  no  ultimate  evils  for  the  new  territory  and  state. 

1  Putnam,  Primary  and  Secondary  Education  in  Michigan,  p.  9. 


io6  Public  Secondary  Education 

Government  was  administered  beneficently  by  the 
guardians  until  the  wards  did  attain  to  their  majority. 
Then  they  took  up  the  control  for  themselves  and  exer- 
cised their  powers  more  wisely  and  less  painfully,  we  must 
think,  than  they  otherwise  would  without  the  period  of 
tutelage. 

By  1827  Michigan  had  come  to  feel  her  latent  strength 
and  had  asked  for,  and  received,  a  representative  voice 
in  the  legislature.  This  same  year  the  territory  was  laid 
off  into  civil  townships  with  elective  township  officers 
and  with  more  or  less  complete  local  autonomy.  About 
this  same  period,  too,  occurred  the  beginnings  of  a  great 
migration  of  New  England  families  into  the  territory, 
just  as  almost  an  exact  two  hundred  years  earlier  the 
great  migrations  from  Old  England  to  New  England  were 
occurring. 

These  new  influences  were  felt  at  once  and  are  seen 
perhaps  best  and  most  characteristically  in  the  school 
legislation  of  1827.  An  act  of  this  year  seems  to  have 
been  modeled  pretty  literally  upon  the  Massachusetts 
School  Law  of  1647.  It  was  enacted  that  every  township 
of  fifty  families  should  at  once  provide  its  youth  with 
elementary  instruction  for  an  aggregated  period  of  not 
less  than  six  months  per  3^ear.  The  wording  of  the  law 
seems  to  imply  that  the  township  school  was  expected 
to  be  a  traveling  school,  and  that  its  operations  would  be 
carried  on  a  short  term  in  each  of  the  several  districts 
into  which  the  township  might  be  divided.  The  same 
law  further  required  that,  in  townships  having  a  popula- 
tion of  one  hundred  families,  an  elementary  school  should 
be  supported  for  at  least  twelve  weeks  in  the  aggregate 
in  the  year.  If  the  township  possessed  one  hundred  and 
fifty  families  an  "English  school"  was  to  be  erected  in 
addition  to  the  elementary  school;  and  if  the  township 


Early  Michigan  107 

contained  two  hundred  families  there  was  required,  in 
addition  to  all  the  other  schools,  the  establishjnent  of  a 
"grammar  school,"  in  which  Latin,  French,  and  English 
were  to  be  taught.  In  case  the  township  possessed  one 
hundred  and  fifty  families  the  elementary  school  was  to 
be  open  six  months  in  the  year  and  the  "English  school" 
(which  seems  to  have  been  only  a  somewhat  advanced 
elementary  school)  was  to  be  open  twelve  months. 
Where  there  were  two  hundred  families  the  law  required 
a  six  months'  term  for  the  elementary  school,  a  twelve 
months'  term  for  the  English  School,  and  a  twelve  months' 
term  for  the  grammar  school.  All  these  were  prob- 
ably traveling  schools  or  else  short-term  schools  held 
simultaneously  in  each  portion  of  the  township 

To  insure  the  enforcement  of  the  law  a  penalty  was 
imposed  for  non-compliance  and  this  was  graduated  to  the 
size  of  the  community.  This  varied  from  a  fine  of  fifty 
dollars  in  townships  of  fifty  families,  up  to  a  fine  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  townships  of  two 
hundred   families.^ 

Here  then  were  the  real  beginnings  of  a  working  system 
of  public  elementary  and  secondary  education  in  Michigan. 
Considering  the  character  and  nmnber  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  territory,  which  at  this  time  did  not  exceed  thirty 
thousand,  and  considering  the  earlier  history  and  tradi- 
tions of  Michigan,  this  law  was  as  progressive  as  one 
could  expect  or  perhaps  desire.  If  it  had  been  strictly 
enforced  Michigan  might  have  made  even  a  better  start 
in  education  than  she  did.  But,  alas!  what  the  law  fos- 
tered and  encouraged  in  one  clause,  it  discouraged  and 
rendered  partially  nugatory  in  another.  Despite  the 
threats  of  heavy  fines  for  non-compHance  with  its  terms, 
the  law  was  only  permissive  after  all.     In  case  two  thirds 

1  Putnam,  op.  cit.,  p,  lo. 


io8  Public  Secondary  Education 

of  the  voters  in  any  township  decided  that  the  law  should 
not  be  put  into  operation  in  their  township  such  decision 
was  to  be  final.  One  could  not  justly  expect  that  inhabi- 
tants so  long  unaccustomed  to  public  schools,  to  self- 
imposed  taxation,  and  to  local  autonomy  would  instantly 
and  imanimously  rise  to  the  opportunity  and  act  most 
wisely.  Nor  did  they.  Few,  if  any,  schools  were  thus 
established,  and  the  following  year  the  legislature — now 
thoroughly  reacting  against  the  former  rule  of  centrali- 
zation—  took  one  further  step  toward  complete  decen- 
tralization: the  district  instead  of  the  township  was 
officially  and  legally  made  the  school  unit. 

No  further  change  of  any  considerable  importance, 
save  one,  was  made  in  the  school  law  until  Michigan  was 
admitted  as  a  state  in  1837.  During  this  decade,  how- 
ever, there  was  formed  a  Territorial  Department  of  Edu- 
cation with  a  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction 
at  its  head.  This  was  in  1829.  When  Michigan  became 
a  state  this  office  was  provided  for  by  the  state  constitu- 
tion, she  being  the  first  commonwealth  thus  to  make  this 
office  permanent  through  the  fundamental  instrument 
of   government. 

Thus  at  the  close  of  the  territorial  period  there  was  in 
Michigan  nominal  provision  for  elementary  education  in 
every  district;  a  series  of  branches,  colleges,  seminaries, 
and  other  schools  furnishing  secondary  education,  either 
privately  or  under  the  direction  and  support  of  the  state; 
and  at  the  focal  point  toward  which  all  these  converged, 
a  state  university.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  there  was  no  such  articulated  and 
complete  system  at  all  —  and  indeed  no  organization  that 
deserves  the  name  "system."  The  central  imiversity 
as  a  teaching  college  did  not  exist  save  as  an  intangible 
ideal.     Elementary  schools  were  operating  in  but  few 


Early  Michigan  109 

localities,  while  private  and  denominational  associations 
furnished  whatever  education  there  was  of  a  secondary 
character.  These  last  institutions,  however,  offered  a 
fair  education  considering  the  poverty  of  the  country  and 
the  educational  ideals  and  methods  in  vogue  at  the  time. 
They  did  not  confine  their  efforts  solely  to  giving  second- 
ary instruction,  but  included  infant  schools,  free  charity 
schools,  ladies'  seminaries,  private  high  schools  for  boys, 
manual  labor  schools,  mechanics  arts  schools,  and 
Lancastrian    academies.^ 

At  the  close  of  the  territorial  period  of  Michigan  one 
can  safely  declare  that  the  state  had  high  and  noble  ambi- 
tions and  ideals  for  the  future,  but  despite  her  territorial 
dreams  and  laws  she  had  few  accomplished  results  and 
concrete  institutions  of  which  to  boast.  She  now  gathered 
her  resources  together,  strengthened  herself  for  her  tasks, 
and  forged  ahead. 

1  Salmon,  op.  cit.,  pp.  i6#.  These  titles  are  suggested  from  the  announcements 
made  by  the  schools  themselves  in  the  Detroit  papers  from  1821 19  1836.  Beside  the 
common  English  branches  there  were  advertised  rhetoric,  higher  mathematics 
includmg  surveying  and  navigation,  natural  philosophy,  chemistry,  Latin,  Greek, 
and  French.  One  school  taught  in  addition  to  these  branches  Spanish,  Italian, 
and  German.  "Needlework,"  says  Miss  Salmon,  "is  often  included  in  the  course 
in  young  ladies'  academies." 


CHAPTER   V 

Putting  the  Constitutional  Provisions  into  Effect 

MICHIGAN  was  admitted  to  the  Union  in  1 83 7 .  Two 
years  earlier,  however,  the  people  of  the  territory- 
had  held  a  convention,  drawn  a  state  constitution, 
ratified  this  at  the  polls,  and  made  formal  application  to 
the  United  States  Congress  for  recognition.  All  this  had 
occurred  before  November,  1835,  but  owing  to  a  dispute 
respecting  the  southern  boundary  Hne,  final  steps  in 
admitting  her  were  deferred  more  than  a  year.  This 
dispute,  which  for  a  time  threatened  the  peace  and 
amicability  of  both  Ohio  and  Michigan,  and  which  led 
to  the  mobilization  of  troops  by  both  states,  was  finally 
settled  without  bloodshed.  Ohio  was  given  the  disputed 
tract  of  land,  but  in  order  to  compensate  Michigan, 
satisfy  her  pride,  and  stop  her  wounds,  there  was  added 
to  her  territory  what  is  now  the  whole  Upper  Peninsula. 
This  district  by  natural  contiguity  was  a  portion  of  the 
territory  of  Wisconsin  and  was  organized  as  a  part  of  it. 
Congress  has,  however,  the  constitutional  right  to  divide 
and  organize  the  public  domain  as  it  sees  fit,  and  in 
consequence  no  legally  valid  criticism  can  be  made 
against  its  action  in  this  case.^ 

The  educational  provisions  in  the  new  constitution  of 
Michigan  were,  like  most  of  the  earlier  territorial  legisla- 
tion, made  up  of  pleasing  and  soothing  generalities,  of 
permissive  powers,  and  of  expressions  of  an  educational 
ideal  that  was  both  vague  in  outline  and  indistinct  in 

1  This  threatened  outbreak  between  Ohio  and  Michigan  is  styled  the  "Toledo 
War,"  inasmuch  as  the  quarrel  centered  about  the  jurisdiction  of  this  grow- 
ing town. 

no 


Putting  the  Constitutional  Provisions  into  Effect     1 1 1 

respect  to  means  and  method  of  attainment.  The 
entire  five  sections  pertaining  to  the  subject  read  as 
follows : 

1.  "The  Governor  shall  nominate,  and  by  and  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Legislature,  in  joint  vote,  shall  appoint  a  Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Instruction,  who  shall  hold  his  office  for  two  years 
and  whose  duties  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

2.  "The  Legislature  shall  encourage,  by  all  suitable  means,  the 
promotion  of  intellectual,  scientifical,  and  agricultural  improvement. 
The  proceeds  of  all  lands  that  have  been  or  hereafter  may  be  granted 
by  the  United  States  to  this  state  for  the  support  of  schools,  which 
shall  hereafter  be  sold  or  disposed  of,  shall  be  and  remain  a  perpetual 
fund;  the  interest  of  which,  together  with  the  rents  of  all  such 
unsold  lands,  shall  be  inviolably  appropriated  to  the  support  of 
schools  throughout  the  state. 

3.  "The  Legislature  shall  provide  for  a  system  of  common  schools 
by  which  a  school  shall  be  kept  up  and  supported  in  each  school 
district  at  least  three  months  in  every  year;  and  any  school  district 
neglecting  to  keep  up  and  support  such  a  school  may  be  deprived 
of  its  equal  proportion  of  the  interest  of  the  public  fund. 

4.  "As  soon  as  the  circumstances  of  the  state  will  permit,  the 
Legislature  shall  provide  for  the  establishment  of  libraries;  one  at 
least  in  each  township;  and  the  money  which  shall  be  paid  by 
persons  as  equivalent  for  exemption  from  military  duty,  and  the 
clear  proceeds  of  all  fines  assessed  in  the  several  counties  for  any 
breach  of  the  penal  laws,  shall  be  exclusively  applied  for  the  support 
of  said  libraries. 

5.  "The  Legislature  shall  take  measures  for  the  protection, 
improvement,  or  other  disposition  of  such  lands  as  have  been  or 
may  hereafter  be  reserved  or  granted  by  the  United  States  to  this 
state  for  the  support  of  a  University,  with  such  branches  as  the 
public  convenience  may  hereafter  demand-  for  the  promotion  of 
literature,  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  as  may  be  authorized  by  the 
terms  of  such  grant;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Legislature,  as 
soon  as  may  be,  to  provide  effectual  means  for  the  improvement  and 
permanent  security  of  the  funds  of  said  University."  ^ 

These  sections  are  not  elaborate,  but  they  served  as  the 

foundation  for  a  school  system  that  was  comprehensive 

1  These  sections  are  quoted  in  the  Reports  of  Superintendents  of  Public  Instruction 
in  various  years.     See,  for  instance.  Report  for  1852,  page  18. 


112  Public  Secondary  Education 

and,  likewise,  in  accord  with  many  of  the  best  theories 
and  practices  of  the  age  anywhere.  Moreover,  the  state 
was  extremely  fortunate  in  the  choice  of  officers  who  were 
charged  with  the  early  administration  of  her  educational 
policies  and  of  her  public  schools. 

Acting  on  the  authority  imposed  by  the  constitution  and 
in  harmony  with  the  advice  of  Governor  Mason,  the 
legislature,  in  1836,  provided  for  putting  into  operation 
the  new  school  ideals.  Rev.  John  Pierce,  a  native  of  the 
East  and  a  man  of  education,  training,  and  broad  expe- 
rience, was  made  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
and  was  ordered  to  devise  and  to  present  to  the  next 
legislature  a  plan  for  a  system  of  elementary  schools,  a 

—  scheme  for  a  university  having  branches  giving  secondary 
instruction,  and  a  policy  for  conserving  the  state  school 
funds  derived  from  the  sale  of  public  lands.  No  better 
choice  of  an  educational  administrator  could  have  been 
made.  The  efficacy  of  education  as  a  regenerating  factor 
in  modem  life  was  a  basal  tenet  in  Mr.  Pierce's  creed. 
He  had  a  profound  conviction  that  a  system  of  public 
schools,  well  articulated  and  conducted,  would  be  the 
basis  for  all  economic,  social,  and  political  progress  of  the 
new  state.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention  and  had  served  on  the  Committee  of  Educa- 
tion in  that  body.  He,  moreover,  had  been  a  close 
student  of  foreign  school  systems,  especially  the  Prussian 
system  as  presented  in  Cousin's  report.  He  was  imbued 
with  the  belief  that  a  strongly  centralized  state  system 
J  was  the  ideal,  and  that  it  was  especially  needed  in  a  new 
and  changing  territory.     An  educational  authority  like 

I    Prussia's  could  keep  its  hand  upon  every  type  of  school 

■   and  every  phase  of  instruction,  and  could  prevent  waste, 

\  local  jealousies,  and  superficiality. 

Fortune  and   the   current   of   events,  too,  facilitated 


Putting  the  Constitutional  Provisions  into  Effect    113 

Mr.  Pierce's  policies.  The  decline  in  education  that  had 
started  in  New  England  even  before  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century  and  had  spread  to  all  the  other 
colonies,  had  reached  its  lowest  point  some  ten  or  twelve 
years  before  this  date,  and  the  return  influence  and  the 
inevitable  reaction  had  begun.  There  now  was  an  edu- 
cational advance  on  all  sides.  This  was  the  decade  of 
the  second  great  awakening  in  American  life;  this  was 
the  Era  of  the  American  Revival  of  Learning.  At  this 
very  time,  Horace  Mann  was  in  the  midst  of  his  victori- 
ous fight  for  better  schools  and  better  school  laws  in 
Massachusetts.  At  this  time,  Henry  Barnard  was  just 
at  the  threshold  of  his  career  in  Connecticut.  At  this 
time,  the  democratic  wave  under  Andrew  Jackson  was 
spreading  over  the  land  and  carrying  with  it  a  demand 
for  an  equal  opportunity  for  all  individuals  in  politics, 
in  business,  and  in  education.  America  was  at  peace 
with  the  world.  The  Indians  had  in  large  numbers 
been  removed  beyond  the  Mississippi  and  were  no 
longer  an  immediate  menace  and  danger.  Western 
lands  were  cheap;  the  Federal  debt  had  been  entirely 
paid;  and  the  central  government  had  adopted  the 
policy  of  distributing  to  the  several  states  the  surplus 
revenue  of  the  treasury.  The  Erie  Canal  had  been 
opened,  a  short  time  previously,  and  now  connected  the 
Great  Lakes  with  the  seaboard.  Railroads  were  beginning 
to  be  laid;  public  highways  were  opened;  canals  were  dug; 
"pet  banks"  were  distributed  here  and  there  throughout 
the  new  West.  Visions  of  wealth,  leisure,  and  happiness 
filled  the  minds  of  all,  and  optimism  reigned  supreme. 

To  facilitate  the  realization  of  these  dreams,  schools 
were  everywhere  demanded.  The  Northwest  now  took 
on  that  "passion  for  learning"  that  ever  since  has  con- 
stituted one  of  her  most  characteristic  features.     The  new 

9 


114  Public  Secondary  Education 

State  of  Michigan  was  caught  up  by  the  rising  spirit 
of  hope  and  expectancy,  and  demanded,  with  her  sister 
states,  a  system  of  education  that  should  be  commensurate 
with  the  new  ideals  and  contributory  to  the  democratic 
and  universal  aspirations. 

When  the  legislature  reconvened  in  January,  1837, 
Superintendent  Pierce  made  his  report  and  offered  his 
proposed  plan.  This  document  was  a  remarkable  piece  of 
educational  wisdom.  It  provided  for  a  system  of  schools 
extending  from  the  rural  district  school  to  the  university, 
and  resembling  in  scope  and  articulation  the  plan  that  was 
proposed  in  the  Law  of  18 17.  There  were  to  be  elemen- 
tary schools  in  every  district  and  these  were  to  be  free  and 
compulsory  to  all  youth  for  a  period  of  at  least  three 
months  in  the  year.  There  was  a  recommendation  for  a 
minimum  salary  law  for  teachers  and  for  a  law  requiring 
a  regular  course  of  professional  training  for  them,  together 
with  state  certifications  of  their  qualifications. 

Mr.  Pierce  also  outlined  a  poHcy  for  conserving  the 
school  funds  arising  from  the  sale  of  the  public  lands,  and 
in  addition  made  other  advanced  and  wise  suggestions 
which  however  do  not  directly  bear  upon  the  present 
theme.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  plan  of  instruction 
proposed  at  the  time  was  in  nearly  perfect  accord  with 
vrhat  Mr.  Mann  was  advocating  at  the  same  period  for 
Massachusetts.  Had  Mr.  Pierce's  suggestions  been 
put  more  fully  into  operation  one  cannot  doubt  but  that 
the  school  system  of  Michigan  would  have  been  even 
better  and  stronger  than  it  was. 

Still  there  were  extenuating  circumstances  which 
should  be  taken  into  consideration  in  forming  a  judgment 
of  the  shortcomings  of  the  legislature  and  the  people. 
However  clearly  a  theorist  may  have  an  image  of  the 
ideal,  it  is  not  always  the  part  of  practical  wisdom  to 


Putting  the  Constitutional  Provisions  into  Effect    115 

attempt  to  attain  to  it  at  one  effort.  In  this  instance  the 
legislature  was  doubtless  wise  in  not  making  into  man- 
datory law  all  of  Mr.  Pierce's  recommendations.  Indeed, 
time  proved  that  much  that  was  undertaken  was  not  real- 
izable and  had  later  to  be  abandoned.  Nevertheless,  the 
plan  as  outlined  by  Mr.  Pierce  constitutes  the  true  con- 
crete beginnings  of  the  state  policy  respecting  education. 
The  more  important  specific  recommendations  may  be 
summarized  thus:^ 

1.  All  school  lands  were  to  be  sold  and  the  proceeds  to  be  invested 

according  to  the  provisions  of  the  law. 

2.  The  powers  and  duties  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 

struction were  to  be  specifically  defined. 

3.  'Provisions  for   the  organization   and   administration   of  the 

elementary  schools  were  made  according  to  the  following 

plan: 

(a)  The  school  district  was  to  be  made  the  unit  and  was  to 

have    its   own    elective    school    officers  —  moderator, 

assessor,  and  director — whose  duties  and  powers  were 

specifically  defined. 
(6)  Township  libraries  were  to  be  established  and  supported 

by  means  of 

(i)  The  surplus  from  fines. 

(2)  The  surplus  from  military  exemptions. 

(3)  A  direct  township  tax  of  ten  dollars  annually. 

(c)  Township  boards  of  school  inspectors  were  to  be  pro- 

vided, and  their  duties  defined. 

(d)  An  exact  plan  for  the  distribution  of  the  school  funds 

was  framed  and  the  amount  allotted  to  each  district 
was  made  dependent  on  the  school  population. 

(e)  A   complete   system   of   official    reports   from   inferior 

officers  to  superior  officers  was  outlined. 
(/)  Local  districts  were  given  permissive  power  to  levy  an 

additional  school  tax. 
(g)  Townships  were  required  to  raise  annually  by  township 

tax  a  sum  of  money  for  school  purposes  equal  to  that 

contributed  by  the  state. 

1  Senate  Documents,  1838,  pp.  15  ff. 


ii6  Public  Secondary  Education 

4.  Provision  was  made  for  the  establishment  of  academies  or 

branches  of  the  university  to  give  secondary  instruction. 

5.  The  university  was  organized. 

6.  Provision   was   made   for   securing   professional   training   of 

teachers  and  for  state  certification  of  them. 

7.  A  plan  for  a  rainumum  salary  law  was  proposed. 

The  legislature  accepted  the  report  of  Mr.  Pierce  and 
embodied  his  recommendations,  almost  in  toto,  into  law. 
Free  schools  were  not,  however,  provided  at  this  time, 
nor  was  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  given 
the  authority  that  was  essential  to  make  his  position  one 
of  real  power  and  dignity.^  Neither  was  a  minimum 
salary  law  enacted. 

The  law  of  1837  authorized  the  sale  of  the  public  lands, 
the  work  to  be  carried  on  under  the  direction  of  the 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction.  Here  again  Mr. 
Pierce  rendered  excellent  service  to  the  state.  Not  only 
was  he  an  educator  of  high  rank  but  he  was  an  equally 
capable  and  efficient  financier  and  business  administrator 
Under  his  supervision  the  sales  were  made  at  auction  and 
brought  good  prices.  The  law  itself  specified  that  no 
public  land  should  be  sold  for  less  than  eight  dollars  per 
acre.  The  actual  selling  price  averaged  about  twelve 
dollars  per  acre.  A  small  cash  deposit  was  required 
of  each  purchaser  and  permission  was  given  whereby  the 
remainder  of  the  obligation  was  to  be  made  in  annual 
installments. 

At  first  all  parties  seem  to  have  been  satisfied  and 
pleased.  Then  came  the  financial  panic  of  1837,  with 
its  attendant  complications,  bankruptcies,  and  losses. 
Optimism  gave  place  to  pessimism.  The  decade  had 
witnessed  an  era  of  the  wildest  of  "wild-cat"  banking  and 

1  Mr.  Pierce  advised  that  power  be  granted  him  and  his  successors  "to  hear 
and  decide  all  questions  arising  under  the  public  school  system."  This  would 
have  made  the  superintendent  an  absolute  supreme  judge.  The  legislature  denied 
the  request. 


Putting  the  Constitutional  Provisions  into  Effect     117 

of  reckless  speculation,  and  the  inevitable  crash  had  come. 
Purchasers  of  the  school  lands  could  not  meet  their 
obligations;  prices  of  all  kinds  of  real  estate  fell;  and 
speculators  and  citizens  turned  to  the  government  for 
advice  and  relief.  Complaints  poured  in  that  the  pur- 
chase price  of  the  school  lands  had  been  too  high,  and 
petitions  were  made  to  the  legislattu-e  for  a  "stay  law" 
that  would  release  buyers  from  their  contracts.  For  some 
time  the  legislature  delayed  action  and  matters  stood 
in  abeyance.  Many  purchasers  deliberately  abandoned 
their  purchases,  and  thereby  forfeited  to  the  state  the 
payments  that  had  already  been  made.  The  land  also 
reverted  to  the  government  and  this  served  as  a  check  and 
dam  to  further  sales. 

Finally  the  pressure  became  too  great  and  the  legisla- 
ture yielded.  Relief  acts  were  passed,  modifying  the 
whole  operation  of  previous  laws  and  the  administration 
that  had  gone  on  imder  them.  Many  purchasers  of  school 
lands  were  exempted  in  part  or  in  whole  from  their 
contracts  and  their  obligations.  The  prices  of  lands 
actually  agreed  upon  and  of  which  part  payments  had 
been  made  were  reduced  in  amounts.  To  those  who  had 
made  full  settlements,  reimbursements,  through  rebates, 
were  made.  The  effect  of  these  relief  acts,  besides  throw- 
ing the  whole  administration  into  confusion,  was  a  large 
financial  loss  to  the  state  school  fund.  Up  to  Decem- 
ber 10,  1842,  the  sales  of  school  lands  had  amounted  to 
$711,404.85,  but  imder  the  provisions  of  the  rehef  act 
this  amount  was  cut  down  to  $359,809.41.^  There  were 
other  losses  incident  to  bad  management,  inaccurate 
bookkeeping,  and  perhaps  carelessness,  so  that  not  even 
this  amount  was  actually  realized. 

According  to  the  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  the 

1  Smith,  History  of  Education  in  Michigan,  p.  i8. 


ii8  Public  Secondary  Education 

State  Land  Office  in  1880,  the  total  amoiint  of  school 
lands  granted  by  the  Federal  government  to  the  state 
of  Michigan  equaled  1,077,208.76  acres.  At  that  date 
there  were  426,860.39  acres  still  unsold.  The  average 
price  per  acre  received  by  the  state  on  lands  sold  up  to 
that  time  had  been  approximately  four  dollars  and  one- 
half.'  Since  1880  the  remaining  lands  have  been  disposed 
of  at  a  figure  considerably  above  this  price. 

At  first  moneys  obtained  from  the  sales  of  these 
public  lands  were  loaned  to  coimty  governments  and  to 
individuals.  That  loaned  to  counties  was  secured  by 
county  bonds;  that  to  individuals  was  guaranteed  by  a 
mortgage  on  the  land.  Nevertheless,  for  one  reason 
or  another,  much  of  the  money  that  was  loaned  to  indi- 
viduals was  lost.  There  are  to  this  day  standing  on 
the  records  many  imcanceled  mortgages  of  the  state 
against  individuals,  but  no  serious  or  successful  efforts 
seem  ever  to  have  been  made  to  recover  the  amoimts 
involved. 

Later,  in  order  to  pay  its  own  debts,  the  state  borrowed 
all  the  school  moneys  itself,  the  whole  amount  thus 
becoming  a  pennanent  and  perpetual  loan  to  the  common- 
wealth. To  secure  the  payment  of  the  interest  on  this 
loan  the  entire  faith  and  credit  of  Michigan  is  pledged. 
The  rate  is  seven  per  cent  per  annum. 

The  state  also  assumed  and  guaranteed  "the  payment 
of  the  interest  due  from  purchases  of  part-paid  lands." 
This  also  bears  seven  per  cent  interest  and  is  merged 
into  one  fund  with  the  other  moneys  just  mentioned. 
There  is  therefore  a  perpetual  school  fiuid,  loaned  to  the 
state  and  guaranteed  by  the  state,  which  will  continue 
to  draw  interest,  payable  out  of  the  state'  tax  levy,  so 
long  as  the  state  itself  shall  endure.     This  is  the  state's 

1  Op.  cit.,  p.  18. 


Putting  the  Constitutional  Provisions  into  Effect     1 1  g 

Primary  School  Fund.     On  April  i,  1843,  it  amounted 
to  $369,264.39.1 

In  addition  to  the  money  obtained  from  the  sale  of 
public  lands,  other  specific  resources  and  taxes  accrue  to 
this  fund  from  time  to  time,  so  that  the  amount  never 
can  be  decreased,  but  on  the  contrary  is  constantly  and 
forever  being  increased,  and  thus  is  yearly  adding  to 
the  support  of  schools.  The  other  items  of  this  school 
fund  are: 

1.  The  funds  derived  from  the  sale  of  lands  that  escheat  to  the 

state  for  want  of  heirs. 

2.  One  half  of  the  moneys  obtained  from  the  sale  of  swamp  land 

granted  to  the  state  by  the  Federal  Government.^ 

The  annual  interest  derived  and  distributed  to  the 
schools  from  the  primary  school  funds  is  at  pres- 
ent supplemented  by  moneys  derived  from  four  other 
sources.     These  are: 

1.  Specific  taxes  received  from  corporations  other  than  mining 

corporations  operating  in  the  Upper  Peninsula. 

2.  The  one-mill  tax  on  all  assessable  property  in  the  state. 

3.  Non-resident  tuition  fees,   which  go  directly  to  the  school 

attended,  but  which  must  be  accounted  for  and  reported 
to  the  state. 

4.  A  district  tax  or  direct  local  tax  determined  by  the  local  authori- 

ties. 

5.  Moneys  from  miscellaneous  resources. 

A  financial  statement  taken  from  the  Reports  of  the 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  for  1907  and  1914^ 
reveals  the  present  condition  of  funds  for  primary  schools 
in  the  state,  and  furnishes  an  interesting  commentary  on 

1  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  for  1852,  p.  599. 

2  For  this  the  state  pays  interest  at  the  rate  of  five  per  cent  rather  than  seven  per 
cent.  This  fund  is  therefore  called  the  State  Primary  School  Five  Per  Cent  Interest 
Fund. 

3  The  Primary  School  Fund  interest  is  distributed  semi-annually  to  the  vari9us 
school  districts  in  the  state  and  is  apportioned  according  to  the  school  population 
of  each  district.  The  per  capita  apportionment  in  1843  was  32  cents.  In  1853 
it  was  S3  cents.  It  never  got  higher  than  this  until  after  1880.  In  1906  the  rate 
was  $12;  in  1907,  $3;  in  1908,  $8.28;  in  1913,  I7.41. 


120 


Public  Secondary  Education 


the  development  of  this  fund  during  the  past  seventy 
years. 


Source  of  Funds 

One-Mill  Tax 

Primary  School  Interest  Fund 

Non-resident  Tuition 

Direct  or  District  Tax 

Miscellaneous 

Total  net  receipts 

Received  from  Loans 

Balance  from  Preceding  Year. 

Total  Resources 


1906 


1913 


1,092,688.64 

2,706,165.10 

110,495.58 

5.591.319-75 
739,606.07 


$10,240,275.14 
1,060,380.37 
2,932,874.20 


$14,233,529.71 


1,192,215 
5.500,639 

301,499 
9,388,617 
1,912,857 


518,295,828 
3,456,879 
3,687,871 


14 

30 

05 
50 
98 


97 
32 
91 


$25,440,580.20 


It  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  these  figures  represent 
the  yearly  resources  of  the  primary  schools  only.  They 
do  not  include  the  university  funds,  the  normal  school 
ftinds,  the  agricultural  school  funds,  or  the  funds  for 
other  educational  institutions  above  the  high  school. 
They  do  include  mone^^s  available  for  high  schools. 

Inasmuch  as  the  present  high  schools  of  Michigan  are 
an  outgrowth  of  the  elementary  schools  and  are  now 
popularly  and  legally  regarded  as  an  integral  part  of  the 
primary  or  common-school  system,  we  shall  have  to 
consider  the  rise  and  development  of  this  type  of  schools 
later.  Until  considerably  after  1837,  however,  secondary 
education  was  not  conceived  to  be  thus  intimately 
related  and  organically  connected  with  elementary 
education,  and  provision  was  made  for  it  in  two  distinct 
types  of  schools.  One  class  of  these  institutions,  called 
Branches  of  the  University,  was  public,  and  was  sup- 
ported and  controlled  chiefly  by  the  state.  The  other 
was  private  or  denominational  and  was  only  in  a  general 
and  indirect  way  under  the  authority  and  supervision 
of  the  state. 


Putting  the  Constitutional  Provisions  into  Effect    121 

The  ideal  of  Mr.  Pierce  was  to  make  a  system  of  educa- 
tion so  complete  and  so  efficient  that  there  would  be  no 
excuse  for  private  and  denominational  schools  for  secular 
instruction,  and  no  cause  for  a  young  man  or  woman  to 
seek  an  education  in  other  states  of  the  Union,  or  in 
non-state  schools  within  Michigan.  Mr.  Pierce  was  not 
an  irreligious  man  ^  nor  did  he  wish  to  oppose  the  spread 
of  church  influences.  He  had,  however,  in  other  states 
seen  the  pernicious  effects  of  an  array  of  weak,  struggling, 
ill-equipped  little  denominational  schools,  academies, 
and  colleges,  and  had  noted  the  cheapening  effect  they 
had  had  upon  high  standards  of  scholarship  and  attain- 
ments. He  resolved,  therefore,  so  far  as  possible,  to 
prevent  their  implanting  in  Michigan,  and  exerted  his 
influence,  openly  and  aggressively,  to  this  end. 

In  the  report  and  recommendations  to  the  legislature  in 
1836,  Mr.  Pierce  called  the  attention  of  that  body  to  the 
seriousness  of  "granting  to  private  associations  acts  of 
incorporation  with  university  powers."  He  referred  to 
the  policy  of  New  York,  which  refused  to  charter  a 
private  or  denominational  school  that  did  not  possess 
appropriate  buildings  valued  at  not  less  than  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars  and  at  the  same  time  a  current  fund 
of  at  least  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  "seciired  in 
double  the  amount,  for  the  use  of  the  institution,  and 
reserving  to  the  state  the  right  of  visitation." 

Even  the  precautions  taken  in  New  York  were,  to 
Mr.  Pierce,  not  sufficient  safeguards,  and  in  his  first  report 
he  added  this  significant  sentence:  "It  is  respectfully 
suggested  to  the  consideration  of  the  legislature  whether 
it  will  be  desirable  (at  all)  to  incorporate  such  a  number 
of  private  associations  for  purposes  of  education  as  will 

1  It  will  be  recalled  that  he  himself  was  a  Christian  minister,  and  after  relinquish- 
ing the  office  of  superintendent  in  1841,  he  returned  to  the  work  of  the  church. 


122  Public  Secondary  Education 

have  the  effect  to  draw  off  the  attention  and  interest  of 
any  considerable  portions  of  the  public  from  the  institu- 
tions founded  by  the  state."  "The  object  of  the  rule  is," 
he  urged,  "to  prevent  the  multiplication  of  such  institu- 
tions without  any  fair  prospect  of  permanent  usefulness. " 

In  1838,  when  the  school  laws  were  being  revised  by 
the  legislature,  Mr.  Pierce  again  returned  to  the  attack 
and  expressed  himself  as  follows:  "When  this  decision 
is  finally  made,"  he  said,  "it  will  not  require  the  inspira- 
tion of  a  prophet  to  determine  whether  the  state  shall 
eventually  assume  the  first  rank  in  the  Republic  of 
Letters,  by  founding  and  rearing  up  an  institution  of 
noble  stature  and  just  proportions,  worthy  alike  of  the 
state  and  of  learning,  and  equally  worthy  the  name  of 
university,  or  whether  the  state  shall  ultimately  sink 
to  a  low  level  in  the  world  of  knowledge,  having  institu- 
tions under  the  imposing  name  of  colleges,  scattered 
through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  without 
funds,  without  cabinets,  without  apparatus,  without 
libraries,  without  talents,  without  character  and  without 
the  ability  of  ever  maintaining  them.  If  one  is  granted, 
others  must  be,  and  there  is  no  limit.  If  one  village 
obtains  a  charter  for  a  college,  all  others  must  have  the 
same  favor.  In  porportion  as  they  increase  in  numbers, 
just  in  that  proportion  will  be  their  decrease  of  power 
to  be  useful."^ 

The  struggle  in  the  legislature  was  long  and  more  or 
less  bitter.  Mr.  Pierce  naturally  was  looked  upon  by 
many  sectarians  as  an  enemy  of  religion  and  a  menace  to 
the  true  development  of  the  state.  Despite  his  declara- 
tions denying  the  false  charges  he  became,  in  the  eyes  of 
many,  a  man  marked  for  speedy  retirement  from  office. 

1  Quoted  in  Superintendenl' s  Report  for  1852,  P-  38.  Also  found  in  Senate  Docu- 
ments, 183Q,  pp.  225  ff. 


Putting  the  Constitutional  Provisions  into  Ejffect    123 

The  question  came  to  a  head  in  1839,  when  a  petition 
was  presented  to  the  legislature  praying  for  the  incorpora- 
tion of  the  "Trustees  of  Michigan  College."  After  a  long 
and  earnest  discussion  the  act  of  incorporation  was 
passed,  and  Michigan  thus,  by  precedent,  bound  herself 
to  the  policy  of  encouraging  schools  not  supported  or 
entirely  controlled  by  the  state.  The  decision  was 
doubtless    a    wise    one. 

There  is  much  force  in  the  argiiments  used  by  Mr. 
Pierce  against  the  indiscriminate  granting  of  charters  to 
any  and  all  applicants  who  wish  to  set  up  a  school. 
Especially  would  it  be  derogatory  to  public  interest  to 
allow  such  institutions,  once  established,  to  offer  what- 
ever instruction  they  might  please,  without  supervision 
of  scope,  standard,  and  efficiency  of  the  work  undertaken. 
Ludicrous  indeed  is  the  situation  found  in  some  states 
even  to-day,  in  which  second-  and  third-class  institutions 
are  permitted  to  grant  academic  degrees  for  work  that  is 
not  equal  to  that  done  in  many  a  good  high  school.^ 

On  the  other  hand,  absolutely  to  prohibit  by  legal 
enactment  all  intelligent  experimenting  by  private 
individuals,  or  to  discourage  educational  institutions, 
which  by  the  very  nature  of  their  work  and  the  limited 
circle  to  which  they  appeal  cannot  advantageously  be 
provided  by  the  public,  would  be  to  injure  and  disable  and 
weaken  the  state  much  more  than  the  presence  of  a  few 
inferior  and  unnecessary  schools  could  do.  To  illustrate 
the  imwisdom  of  a  complete  prohibition  of  private 
initiative  in  education  one  has  only  to  recall  the  long 
period  and  process  of  private  tutelage  that  had  first  to  be 
undergone  by  the  kindergartens,  manual  training  schools, 

1  Propriety  and  courtesy  prevent  giving  the  names  of  specific  institutions. 
There  are  such  institutions  in  nearly  all  parts  of  the  Union,  as  all  pretty  well  know. 
Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois  have  a  number  of  such  pretentious  schools,  and  possibly 
Michigan  is  not  wholly  without  them. 


124  Public  Secondary  Education 

commercial  schools,  industrial  schools,  and  other  institu- 
tions of  similar  kinds  before  they  were  incorporated  into 
the  public-school  system.  Mr.  Pierce's  recommendations 
were  worthy  of  consideration  as  a  check  to  hasty  and 
ill-timed  legislative  action,  but  as  a  formulation  of 
principles  for  an  unvarying  and  permanent  policy  they 
were  dangerous. 

With  the  incorporation  of  Michigan  College  the  way 
was  open  for  other  educational  ventures,  and  from  this 
date  academies,  seminaries,  and  colleges  gradually  found 
recognition  in  the  Michigan  school  system.  Nevertheless, 
though  the  threatened  legal  obstruction  was  removed, 
other  circimistances  existed  which,  temporarily,  checked 
any  considerable  growth  of  private  schools,  nor  was  the 
number  ever  large  in  Michigan  in  comparison  with  the 
numbers  fotmd  in  many  other  states.  After  1846,  and 
before  the  public  high  school  appeared  prominently, 
there  was  an  era  of  considerable  activity  in  schools  of 
these  kinds.     We  shall  recur  to  this  movement  later. 

In  the  meantime  true  public  secondary  education  was 
being  given  in  the  "branches"  of  the  university.  A 
consideration  of  these  shall  constitute  the  theme  of  the 
next  chapter. 


CHAPTER   VI 
Branches  of  the  University 

IT  WILL  be  recalled  that  the  territorial  act  of  1817 
provided  that  a  series  of  secondary  branch  schools 
should  be  established  imder  the  authority  of  the  university. 
By  the  act  of  182 1  the  same  idea  was  reemphasized.  The 
state  constitution  of  1835  expressly  spoke  of  "branches" 
in  connection  with  the  university,  and  obviously  implied 
that  schools  of  secondary  grade  should  be  provided  and 
should  be  made  dependent  on  that  institution.  Super- 
intendent Pierce  in  his  first  report  outlined  a  scheme  for 
such  schools,  and  when  the  law  creating  the  present 
university  was  approved,  March  18,  1837,  the  idea  was 
incorporated  in  the  act. 

The  control  of  the  university  was  placed  in  the  hands  of 
twelve  regents  appointed  by  the  governor,  together  with 
other  ex  officio  members.  These  were  the  governor  of 
the  state,  the  Heutenant-governor,  the  justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Michigan,  the  chancellor  of  the  univer- 
sity, and  the  chancellor  of  the  state.  Among  other  duties 
this  board  was  required,  in  cooperation  with  the  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction,  to  establish  branches 
of  the  university  in  various  parts  of  the  state,  and  to 
prescribe  rules  and  regulations  for  their  administration. 

The  first  report  of  Mr.  Pierce  recommended  that  any 
coimty  which  possessed  a  sufficient  population  and  which 
should  agree  to  furnish  a  school  site  and  buildings  should 
be  entitled  to  a  branch.  To  secure  local  interest  and  to 
provide  for  local  administration  a  board  of  eleven  persons 
was  to  be  required.    Six  of  these  were  to  be  appointed 

125 


126  Public  Secondary  Education 

by  the  County  Board  of  Supervisors,  one  by  the  State 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  and  the  other  four 
members  were  to  be  ex  officio  the  county  judge  of  probate, 
two  associate  county  judges,  and  the  county  clerk.  This 
local  board  of  trustees  was  to  have  the  general  control 
of  the  school,  to  appoint  teachers,  and  to  make  an  annual 
report  to  a  County  Board  of  Visitors.  This  last  board 
was  to  consist  of  three  members, —  two  appointed  by  the 
State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  and  one  by 
the  County  Board  of  Supervisors.^  The  duties  of  the 
Board  of  Visitors  were  to  visit  the  branch  annually,  to 
examine  its  work  and  administration,  and  to  report  to 
the  State  Superintendent  of  PubHc  Instruction. 

The  support  of  the  branch  was  to  come  in  part  from 
apjDropriations  made  by  the  regents  from  the  university 
fund ;  a  like  amoimt  collected  in  the  coimty  by  means  of  a 
direct  cotinty  tax ;  and  tuitions.  In  addition  every  county 
that  complied  with  the  law  was  to  have  a  bonus  from  the 
state  of  five  hundred  dollars  for  books  and  apparatus.^ 

Every  branch  was  to  contain  three  departments:  the 
Classical,  the  English,  and  the  Normal  Training.  The 
tuition  in  the  Normal  Department  was  to  be  free  to  all 
who  would  pledge  themselves  to  complete  the  course  of 
three  years  and  then  teach  in  the  schools  of  the  state  four 
years  longer.  The  tuition  in  the  English  Department  was 
not  to  exceed  ten  dollars  a  year,  and  in  the  Classical, 
twelve  dollars.  In  the  Normal  or  Teachers'  Department 
the  following  studies  were  recommended:  "The  English 
language;  writing  and  drawing;  arithmetic,  mental  and 
written,  and  bookkeeping;  geography  and  general  history 
combined,  and  history  of  the  United  States;  geometry, 

1  In  Michigan  each  civil  township  elects  annually  one  supervisor  who  assesses 
property  for  taxes,  and  acts  as  the  chief  executive  officer  of  the  township.  The 
aggregate  body  of  township  supervisors  in  the  county  constitute  ex  officio  the 
County  Board  of  Supervisors. 

2  Smith,  History  of  Education  in  Michigan,  pp.  30  f- 


Branches  of  the  University  127 

trigonometry,  mensuration  and  surveying ;  natural  philos- 
ophy and  elements  of  astronomy ;  geology  and  chemistry ; 
constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the  laws  a-nd 
duties  of  public  officers;  principles  of  teaching;  rhetoric; 
algebra;  the  nature  of  man  as  a  physical,  intellectual, 
and  moral  being,  and  his  relations."^ 

The  act  as  finally  passed  contained  the  essential  features 
of  this  recommendation,  but  omitted  many  of  the  details. 
It  placed  more  power  and  discretion  in  the  hands  of  the 
regents.  The  county  was  not  necessarily  to  be  the  basis 
for  organization,  but  branches  were  to  be  opened  by  the 
regents  (with  the  superintendent  cooperating)  in  such 
places  as  the  legislature  might  authorize.  They  were  to 
be  essentially  boys'  schools,  and  rules  and  regulations 
were  to  be  prescribed  by  the  regents. 

The  law  required  that  in  at  least  one  branch  an  agri- 
cultural department  should  be  established  having  "Com- 
petent instructors  in  the  theory  of  agriculture,  including 
vegetable  physiology  and  agricultural  chemistry,  and 
experimental  and  practical  farming   and   agriculture.  "^ 

Each  branch  was  to  have,  as  recommended,  a  normal 
school  for  the  training  of  primary-school  teachers,  and 
such  other  departments  as  the  regents  deemed  necessary. 

In  connection  with  each  branch  there  was  also  to  be, 
as  soon  as  suitable  buildings  could  be  secured,  "an 
institution  for  the  education  of  females."^ 

When  a  branch  was  actually  established  the  law  provided 
that  there  should  be  "apportioned  to  each  such  sums  for 
the  support  of  its  professors  and  teachers,  and  also  such 
other  sums  for  the  purchase  of  books  and  apparatus,  as  the 
state  of  the  University  fimd  shall  warrant  and  allow."* 

1  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  1852,  p.  26. 

2  Revised  Statutes  of  Michigan,  1838,  p.  237,  sec.  21. 

3  Ibid.,  sec.  20. 
*  Ibid.,  sec.  22. 


128  Public  Secondary  Education 

At  the  same  session,  on  March  20,  1837,  an  act  was 
passed  locating  the  university  at  Ann  Arbor.  The  law 
specified  that  the  university  should  consist  of  three 
departments:  (i)  The  Department  of  Literature,  Science, 
and  the  Arts;  (2)  The  Department  of  Law;  and  (3)  The 
Department  of  Medicine. 

The  first  recommendations  made  by  the  superintendent 
provided  that  in  the  department  of  literature,  science, 
and  the  arts  "there  should  ultimately  be  established  the 
following  professorships:  ancient  languages,  modern  lan- 
guages, philosophy  of  history  and  logic,  philosophy  of 
the  human  mind,  moral  philosophy,  theology,  political 
economy,  mathematics,  natural  philosophy,  chemistry, 
geology  and  mineralogy,  botany  and  zoology,  fine  arts, 
and  civil  engineering  and  drawing. 

The  law  permitted  the  establishment  of  most  of  these 
chairs.     But  theology,  for  obvious  reasons,  was  excluded. 

The  regents  at  their  first  meeting,  held  July  5,  1837, 
decided  not  to  attempt  to  open  the  imiversity  at  once, 
but  to  give  their  first  attention  to  the  establishment  of 
branches,  which,  in  the  course  of  four  years,  it  was 
expected,  would  have  prepared  a  class  ready  for  entrance 
to  the  main  university.  To  this  end  they  voted  to  open 
eight  such  schools  of  secondary  grade  and  to  appropriate 
eight  thousand  dollars  to  aid  the  payment  of  teachers  in 
them.  Before  the  first  of  January,  1839,  five  such 
branches  were  organized  and  put  into  actual  operation. 
These  were  located  at  Pontiac,  Monroe,  Kalamazoo, 
Detroit,  and  Niles.* 

1  The  dates  on  which  the  principal  instructors  were  appointed  by  the  regents, 
and  on  which  the  schools  may  justly  be  said  to  have  been  founded,  were  as  follows: 
Pontiac,  Sept.  15,  1837;  Monroe,  Feb.  19,  1838;  Kalamazoo,  May  i,  1838;  Detroit, 
May  20,  1838;  and  Niles,  Sept.  14,  1838.  (See  "Report  of  Regents"  in  Michigan 
Documents  of  the  House,  1839.)  The  branch  at  Detroit  was  looked  upon  by  many 
as  being  the  superior  branch  and  as  constituting,  temporarily,  the  main  university. 
When  the  real  university  was  opened  in  Ann  Arbor,  and  the  appropriations  to  the 
branches  reduced,  the  Detroit  branch  suspended. 


Branches  of  the  University  129 

The  niimber  of  pupils  enrolled  at  the  time  was  161, 
distributed  as  follows:  Pontiac,  27;  Monroe,  63;  Kala- 
mazoo, 22;  Detroit,  40;  Niles,  9.  Of  these,  ten  were 
expected  to  be  qualified  in  September,  1839,  for 
teachers  of  the  common  schools,  and  six  were  expected 
to  be  ready  for  admission  to  the  university.  "In  1840," 
continues  the  regents'  report,  "thirty  students  will  be 
ready  to  enter  the  freshman  or  perhaps  sophomore  classes 
in  the  university.  In  1841,  thirty-five  will  be  ready  and 
in  1842  forty.  The  total  students  whose  parents  design 
them  for  a  liberal  education  nimiber  10 1,  with  ten  reported 
or  destined  for  teachers,  and  50  whose  future  ambitions 
were  not  revealed."  Needless,  perhaps,  to  say,  all  these 
were  boys.  No  "female  institution"  had  in  1838  yet  been 
added  to  any  school,  nor  was  the  university,  as  conceived 
at  this  time,  intended  for  any  but  the  male  sex.  The  ad- 
mission of  girls  to  the  university  did  not  begin  imtil  1870. 

The  attitude  of  the  local  committees  toward  the 
branches  was  gratifying  indeed.  It  was  the  policy  of 
the  regents  to  throw  much  of  the  burden  of  the  support 
of  these  schools  upon  the  local  communities. 

These  furnished  the  buildings  and  the  equipment  and 
the  regents  paid  the  salaries.  All  fees  or  tuitions,  how- 
ever, went  to  the  imiversity  and  not  to  the  local  author- 
ities. Under  these  conditions  towns  seemed  to  vie  with 
each  other  in  securing  recognition  and  in  having  a  branch 
of  the  imiversity  set  up  in  their  midst.  In  1839  schools 
had  been  opened  at  White  Pigeon  and  Tecumseh,  though 
the  one  at  Kalamazoo  was  temporarily  discontinued. 
In  this  year  there  were  employed  by  the  university  six 
teachers  who  acted  as  principals  of  the  branches,  and  six 
assistants  or  tutors.  Two  of  the  latter  were  women.  The 
average  nimiber  of  pupils  under  instruction  was  222.^ 

1  Regents'  Report,  1839.  Joint  Documents  of  Michigan,  184c. 
10 


130  Public  Secondary  Education 

"Wherever  a  branch  has  been  established,"  said  the 
regents,  "it  has  not  only  received  the  decided  approbation 
and  support  of  the  inhabitants  in  its  immediate  vicinity, 
but  has  continued  regularly  to  increase  in  number  of 
students  from  time  to  time."  ^ 

The  Report  of  1840  was  equally  cheerful  and  optimistic. 
"A  steady  increase  of  nimiber  has  taken  place  in  the 
respective  terms  for  the  year,"  reads  one  of  its  sentences. 
The  number  of  teachers  and  professors  then  employed 
numbered  20,  while  the  average  attendance  was  236 
students.  "Female  institutions"  or  departments  were 
opened  in  four  of  the  branches  during  this  year.  These 
were  at  Monroe,  White  Pigeon,  Niles,  and  Tecumseh.^ 

Still,  there  is  in  the  Report  an  inkling  of  doubts  and 
fears.  The  regents  refer  to  the  work  of  the  Committee 
on  Branches  as  having  "encountered  an  arduous  task 
in  the  management  of  the  correspondence,  the  selection 
of  principals,  and  the  pecimiary  questions  which  required 
decision  and  adjustment."  There  is  also  an  echo  of  the 
religious  quarrels  and  criticisms,  since  the  regents  took 
care  publicly  to  announce  that  "of  the  seven  branches 
established  five  are  tmder  the  direction  of  clergymen  and 
two  of  laymen  of  various  religious  denominations."  Ever 
since  Mr.  Pierce's  adverse  recommendations  respecting 
the  easy  incorporation  of  denominational  schools  a  large 
constituency  in  the  state  had  viewed  every  move  toward 
public  education  as  a  covert  attack  upon  religion  and  re- 
ligious teaching.  Even  this  early  the  imiversity  regents 
had  to  confront  the  charge  that  they  were  seeking  to  estab- 
lish and  perpetuate  Godless  schools.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  their  public  avowal  of  their  choice  of  clergymen 
as  principals  was  made  to  allay  adverse  public  opinion. 

1  Report  of  Regents  in  Stale  Documents  of  House  of  Representatives  for  183Q. 

2  Regents'  reports  for  1840.  in  Joint  Documents,  1841,  pp.  399  ff- 


Branches  of  the  University  131 

Meanwhile  the  erection  of  the  buildings  constituting  the 
main  body  of  the  University  had  been  going  on  at  Ann 
Arbor.  The  nucleus  of  a  library  and  the  beginnings  of 
some  necessary  apparatus  had  already  been  made,  and 
the  university  proper  was  ready  to  open  its  doors.  This 
was  in  1841.^  It  was  evident,^  however,  to  the  Board 
of  Regents  that  the  scant  imiversity  funds — made 
scantier  by  the  legislative  relief  and  rebate  acts  of  that 
and  the  previous  year — would  not  be  sufficient  to  carry 
on  the  growing  work  of  the  branches  and  at  the  same 
time  the  work  in  the  central  college,  and  to  bestow  upon 
both  the  proper  and  necessary  attention.  The  value  of  the 
branches  in  stimulating  public  interest  in  education  had 
been  immeasurable.  There  was  a  demand  on  all  sides 
not  only  that  those  already  in  operation  should  be  con- 
tinued but  that  others  should  speedily  be  opened.  The 
regents  themselves  shared  these  views,  as  did  both  the 
retiring  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  Mr.  Pierce, 
and  his  successor,  Mr.  Franklin  Sawyer.  Still,  good 
judgment  dictated  that  if  the  university  proper  was  ever 
to  command  the  equal  and  whole-hearted  support  of 
the  people  of  the  state  that  the  other  educational  institu- 
tions did,  its  opening  ought  not  be  deferred  longer. 
Every  day  that  the  branches  increased  in  strength  and 
popularity  the  difficulties  of  opening  the  university 
increased.  Every  day  that  the  denominational  influences 
strengthened,  the  popular  interest  in  a  complete  system  of 
secular  public  education  diminished.     It  seemed  to  the 

1  When  the  university  opened  there  were  six  students  admitted  to  the  freshman 
class,  and  one  to  the  sophomore.  The  preparatory  department,  or  Ann  Arbor 
branch,  was  opened  at  the  same  time  with  twenty-five  students  enrolled.  _  (Report 
of  the  Faculty  in  Joint  Documents,  1842,  p.  389.)  Candidates  for  admission  to  the 
university  at  this  time  were  examined  in  arithmetic,  the  elements  of  algebra, 
geograpiiy.  Cicero's  orations,  Sallust,  Vergil,  Jacob's  Greek  Reader,  the  Four 
Gospels,  and  Latin  and  Greek  prosody.  (Report  of  E.xecutive  Committee  of  Re- 
gents, 184 1,  in  Joint  Documents,  1842,  p.  388.)  With  the  exception  of  a  term's 
work  in  rhetoric,  grammar,  and  natural  history,  the  whole  freshman  course  was 
made  up  of  Latin,  Greek,  and  mathematics.  In  1842  the  enrollment  in  the  uni- 
versity was  twenty-five.     {Joint  Documents,  1843,  p.  371.) 


132  Public  Secondary  Education 

regents  that  the  time  was  then  or  never;  that,  if  the 
opening  were  deferred,  the  university  never  would  be  able 
to  gain  the  prestige  and  power  that  was  hoped  and  prom- 
ised; and  that  unless  the  articulation  were  made  then, 
the  university  never  could  become  the  real  integral  part 
of  the  public-school  system  that  had  been  planned. 

With  these  reflections  to  guide  them  the  regents  decided 
definitely  to  delay  no  longer  but  to  open  the  university 
that  year.^  To  do  this  it  was  voted  to  curtail  the  expendi- 
tures and  contributions  for  the  branches.  Instead  of 
paying  the  teachers'  salaries  and  receiving  in  their  treasury 
the  income  from  tuitions,  they  determined  to  appropriate 
the  gross  sum  of  five  htmdred  dollars  to  each  principal, 
and  tc  allow  him  to  receive  the  tuitions  for  himself.  Out 
of  these  funds  he  was  expected  to  find  his  own  salary, 
to  pay  his  own  assistant  teachers,  and  to  meet  the  other 
current  expenses  of  the  school.  This  action  caused  the 
branches  at  Pontiac,  Monroe,  and  Niles  to  suspend  at 
once.  The  others  continued  their  work  and  were  more 
or  less  successful.^ 

The  following  year,  1842,  saw  another  reduction  in  the 
university  appropriations.  Then,  in  addition  to  the 
tuition  fees,  only  two  hundred  dollars  were  allowed  each 
branch.  There  was  dissatisfaction  and  complaint  in 
many  quarters.  The  principals  at  White  Pigeon  and 
Tectimseh  resigned,  but  others  were  appointed  in  their 
stead  and  the  work  went  on.  The  branches  now  num- 
bered five.  These  were  Detroit,  Kalamazoo,  Tecumseh, 
White  Pigeon,  and  Ann  Arbor.  The  total  enrollment 
this  year  was  210,  of  whom  113  were  in  the  Classical  or 
College  Preparatory  Department.' 

1  The  exact  date  of  the  opening  of  the  literary  department  was  Sept.  20,  1841. 

2  The  branches  left  were  those  at  Detroit,  Kalamazoo,  Tecumseh.  White  Pigeon, 
and  Ann  Arbor.  These  had  an  aggregate  enrollment  of  "147  males  and  100 
females."     (Report  of  Committee  on  Branches,  Joint  Documents,  1842,  p.  39i-) 

3  Joint  Documents,  1843,  p.  287. 


Branches  of  the  University  133 

The  same  five  institutions  existed  in  1843,  but  the 
enrollment  was  reduced  to  174,  with  no  in  the  Classical 
Course.  Late  in  the  year  a  new  branch  was  opened  at 
Romeo.  ^ 

In  1844  the  branches  numbered  six,  with  the  whole 
number  of  students  increased  to  298.  Among  these  were 
72  women.^ 

The  next  year,  1845,  the  regents  reported  about  300 
students  in  the  branches,  and  seemed  hopeful  that  the 
dark  days  were  nearly  over.^ 

In  1846  reports  were  received  from  the  branches  at 
White  Pigeon,  Kalamazoo,  Tecimiseh,  and  Romeo,  which 
collectively  showed  an  enrollment  of  287  students.  Of 
these  126  were  women,  and  112  were  in  the  classical 
departments.  "No  reports,"  said  the  Committee  on 
Branches,  "have  been  received  from  either  the  Pontiac, 
Niles,  or  Monroe  branch."^  This  statement  implies 
that  there  were,  coimting  the  preparatory  school  at 
Ann  Arbor,  eight  branches  existing  at  this  date,  the 
Detroit  branch  being  the  only  one  not  in  operation. 

With  the  opening  of  the  schools  in  the  fall  of  1846  evil 
days  befell.  Then  only  four  branches  resimied  operations. 
During  this  school  year  the  Committee  on  Branches 
recommended  that  no  more  university  aid  should  be 
extended  to  these  schools,  and  the  regents  concurred 
in  the  recommendation.  The  Committee  on  Branches 
was  therefore  dismissed,^  and  no  further  reports  of  the 
regents  are  to  be  fovmd  on  the  subject. 

Early  in  1847,  therefore,  the  regents  fully  abandoned  all 
attempts  to  support  the  two  types  of  schools — secondary 

1  Report  of  Committee  on  Branches.  Joint  Documents,  1843. 

2  Ibid.,  for  1844,  p.  54.  The  schools  this  year  were  at  Kalamazoo,  White 
Pigeon,  Tecumseh,  Romeo,  Monroe,  and  Ann  Arbor.  The  Monroe  branch  was 
revived  this  year,  after  a  suspension  of  two  years. 

3  Joint  Documents,  1845,  No,  5,  p.  ISO, 

4  Ibid.,  1847.  p.  S8. 
^Ibid.,  1848.  No.  S. 


134  Public  Secondary  Education 

and  higher — and  gave  their  whole  attention  to  the 
latter.  After  this  date  no  further  appropriation  was 
made  to  any  branch/  though  some  branches  continued  to 
struggle  along  on  their  own  resources.  After  this  date, 
too,  no  reports  seem  to  have  been  made  by  any  branch 
save  that  at  Romeo.  This  school  continued  to  thrive 
to  a  greater  or  less  degree  for  two  or  three  years.  Its  last 
report  was  made  in  185 1.  At  that  time  the  Romeo 
branch  alone  had  201  students,  of  whom  43  were  pursuing 
classical  studies,  19  French,  and  127  the  higher  mathe- 
matics and  branches  of  higher  English  education. ^ 

Thus,  after  an  attempt  extending  over  a  period  of  ten 
years  of  actual  effort  and  thirty  years  of  theoretical 
agitation  and  legal  authorization,  and  after  more  than 
thirty  thousand  dollars  had  been  expended  in  trying  to 
sustain  it,  the  policy  of  conducting  a  university  with 
dependent  branches  was  abandoned,  never  to  be  revived.^ 

Each  branch,  as  we  have  seen,  was  to  have  a  Classical, 
an  English,  and  a  Normal-Training  Department,  and  in 
at  least  one  branch  there  was  to  be  a  Department  of 
Agriculture.  So  far  as  the  records  disclose,  this  last 
department  never  was  established.  The  other  depart- 
ments were  common  to  each  school. 

Admission  to  any  branch  was  secured  by  merely  pass- 
ing a  preparatory  or  entrance  examination.  Likewise, 
too,  graduates  of  the  classical  departments  of  these 
schools,  though  prepared  specifically  for  the  tmiver- 
sity,  were  subjected  to  an  entrance  examination  when 
they  came  up  for  admission  to  Ami  Arbor.     The  first 

1  For  the  sake  of  testing  the  constitutionality  of  the  law  before  the  Supreme 
Court  an  appropriation  of  ten  dollars  was  later  made  to  the  Romeo  branch,  and 
the  rest  withheld. 

2  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  1851,  p.  63. 

3  All  told,  therefore,  eight  such  branches  had  been  opened,  or,  if  the  preparatory 
school  of  Ann  Arbor  be  regarded  as  a  branch,  nine  had  been  established.  Quasi- 
branches  were  also  located  at  Mackinaw,  Jackson,  Utica,  Ypsilanti.and  Coldwater, 
but  no  appropriations  were  made  by  the  regents  for  their  support. 


Branches  of  the  University  135 

announcement  ^  of  the  regents  on  the  subject  describes  the 
terms  and  conditions  of  entrance  thus:  "Applicants  for 
admission  (to  the  university  proper)  must  adduce  satis- 
factory evidence  of  good  moral  character,  and  sustain  an 
examination  in  geography,  arithmetic,  the  elements  of  Al- 
gebra, the  grammar  of  the  English,  Latin,  and  Greek  lan- 
guages, the  exercises  and  reader  of  Andrews,  Cornelius 
Nepos,  Vita  Washingtonii,  Sallust,  Cicero's  Orations, 
Jacob's   Greek   Reader   and   the   evangelists."^ 

These  admission  requirements  suggest  the  nature  of 
the  Classical  Course  in  the  branches.  Unfortunately  no 
entire  program  of  studies  of  the  work  given  in  these 
early  schools  is  at  hand.  In  185 1,  after  the  branches 
had  been  abandoned  by  the  regents,  the  Romeo  branch 
did  make  a  rather  elaborate  report  directly  to  the  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction.  This  report  is  extant. 
This  branch,  it  will  be  recalled,  was  the  latest  to  be 
organized,  and  doubtless  it  was  built  on  stronger  local 
support  than  were  some  of  the  others.  The  school  was 
perpetuated  beyond  1847,  '^^  the  faith,  apparently,  that 
the  regents  would  soon  return  to  their  earlier  policy  of 
rendering  university  aid.  At  least  the  university  grant  of 
ten  dollars,  and  the  amicable  agreement  to  carry  the 
question  of  legal  relationship  before  the  Supreme  Court, 
indicate  that  all  hope  of  organic  affiliation  with  the 
tmiversity  was  not  at  that  time  abandoned. 

Consequently,  considering  all  the  circumstances,  one 
may  fairly  infer  that  this  branch  represented  the  imiversity 
schools  at  their  strongest  and  best. 

The  Report  in  question,  signed  by  President  D.  C. 
Walker,  is  dated  Romeo,  Macomb  County,  Jan.  20,  185 1, 
and    contains   a   statement    of    the    conditions    of    the 

1  Made  in  1844. 

2  McLaughlin,  History  of  Higher  Education  in  Michisan,  p.  41;  or  see  catalogue 
for  1843-44. 


136  Public  Secondary  Education 

school  for  the  previous  year.  The  number  of  students  in 
attendance  was  given  as  201.  Of  this  number  43  pursued 
the  study  of  the  Latin  or  Greek  languages  or  both;  19  the 
French  language;  and  127  the  higher  mathematics, 
together  with  the  higher  branches  of  an  education."^ 
Apparently  at  this  date  the  branch  was  not  only  giving 
studies  that  prepared  for  admission  to  the  university 
but  in  addition  was  regularly  offering  the  equivalent  of 
the  first  year's  work  in  the  university  itself,  for  we 
read:  "12  of  the  classical  students  pursued  the  studies 
of  the  freshman  year  in  college,  and  four  have  entered 
college  —  one,  Brown  University;  one,  Williams'  College; 
and  two  our  university;  all  entered  the  sophomore 
class."  ^ 

At  this  time  there  were  five  members  of  the  corps  of 
teachers.  These  were  Charles  H.  Palmer,  A.M.,  principal 
and  instructor  in  mathematics,  chemistry,  and  natural 
philosophy;  Charles  C.  Torrey,  A.B.,  instructor  in  ancient 
languages,  rhetoric,  and  moral  philosophy;  Mrs.  B.  A. 
Palmer,  principal  of  the  female  department  and  instructor 
in  French,  botany,  and  history;  Miss  Sarah  J.  Gillett, 
instructor  in  physiology  and  natural  history;  and  George 
A.  Hoyt,  instructor  in  music,  vocal  and  instrumental. 

These  items  reveal  what  was  apparently  the  whole 
program  of  studies  and  the  scope  of  the  instruction. 
One,  can  infer  from  it,  too,  that  the  size  of  certain  classes 
must  have  been  relatively  large,  each  teacher  having  an 
average  of  forty  pupils. 

The  academic  year  was  divided  into  three  terms  of 
fifteen  weeks  each.  These  began  respectively,  in  1851, 
on  April  I,  August  19,  and  December  9.  Tuition  was 
charged  as  follows: 

1  Report  of  Superintendent  oj  Public  Instruction,  1851.  P-  61. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  63. 


% 


Branches  of  the  University  137 

Elementary  branches,  per  term  of  15  weeks $  3.00 

Common  English  branches,  per  term  of  15  weeks 4.00 

Higher  English  branches,  per  term  of  15  weeks 5 .00 

Latin,  Greek,  and  French,  per  term  of  15  weeks 6.00 

Instruction  on  the  piano,  per  term  of  15  weeks 10.00 

The  president  called  particular  attention,  also,  to  the 
school  apparatus  the  institution  possessed.  In  addition 
to  a  "cabinet  of  minerals"  there  was  "extensive  chemical, 
philosophical,  and  astronomical  apparatus  costing  more 
than  $500."  "The  telescope,"  continues  the  report, 
"is  a  fine  achromatic,  capable  of  showing  clearly  the 
moons  and  belts  of  Jupiter,  and  the  rings  of  Saturn. 
This  apparatus  has  been  selected  with  great  care,  and 
is  considered  one  of  the  most  complete  in  the  West."  ^ 

These  sentences  show  that  laboratory  demonstrations, 
if  not  individual  experimentations,  formed  a  part  of  the 
instruction  at  the  time.  They  also  reveal  the  great 
interest  that  was  taken  in  astronomy  sixty  years  ago. 

The  president  laments  the  fact  that  meteorology  is  not 
given  greater  attention  by  the  regents  or  by  the  state 
legislature.  "Accurate  meteorological  tables,"  said  he, 
"kept  at  different  points  would  do  much  to  correct  an 
erroneous  impression  in  reference  to  the  climate  of  the 
state,  which  its  latitude  is  calculated  to  produce.  On 
accoimt  of  its  proximity  to  the  great  lakes  the  climate  is 
much  milder  than  is  generally  supposed;  and,  no  doubt, 
these  observations  will  show  that  the  mean  temperature 
of  the  southern  half  of  this  state  is  higher  than  that  of 
the  interior  of  Ohio.  The  meteorology  of  the  region 
bordering  on  the  great  lakes  would  possess  high  scientific 
value  and  it  would  at  the  same  time  contribute  greatly 
to  show  the  congeniality  of  the  climate  to  the  most 
valuable  agricultural  products  of  the  coimtry,  as  well  as 
to  promote  the  safe  navigation  of  the  lakes,  that  add 

1  Report,  pp.  64,  66. 


138  Public  Secondary  Education 

so  much  to  the  commercial  importance  of  the  State.  "^ 
Evidently  the  early  reports  and  traditions  respecting 
the  state  had  not  yet  wholly  lost  their  subversive  effects, 
and  there  was  still  need  of  correcting  the  false  impressions 
before  the  world.  The  suggestions  also  indicate  that  the 
study  of  science  in  its  various  phases  had  already  gained  a 
firm  foothold  in  the  schools,  even  in  schools  whose  prime 
function  was  to  prepare  youths  for  admission  to  colleges 
that  still  emphasized  classical  culture. 

The  Report  further  states  that  "during  the  Fall  term 
particular  attention  is  given  to  a  class  of  yoimg  ladies  and 
gentlemen  desirous  of  qualifying  themselves  for  teaching. 
This  class  is  reviewed  in  all  studies  usually  pursued  in 
primary  schools.  Frequent  lectures  are  given  upon  sub- 
jects connected  with  their  profession  and  no  pains  are 
spared  to  enable  them  to  become  able  and  efficient 
instructors.  Those  who  are  found  qualified  are,  if  desired, 
furnished  with  schools.  The  number  of  students  con- 
nected with  this  department  was  57;  who,  during  some 
part  of  the  year,  were  engaged  in  teaching  common 
schools.  .  .  .  The  directors  of  school  districts  can 
be  supplied  with  teachers  of  any  desired  acquirements,  by 
addressing,  early  (by  the  middle  of  October),  the  principal, 
stating  the  required  qualifications,  compensation,  etc."^ 
Whether  other  branches  were  greatly  dissimilar  to  this, 
the  available  records  do  not  disclose.  Here,  at  least,  is 
found  a  detached  department  of  pedagogical  instruction, 
the  like  of  which  was  not  introduced  into  the  state  in  a 
special  normal  school  imtil  the  year  previous,^  and  was 
not  taken  up  in  the  university  until  1879.  No  one  claims 
of  course  that  "frequent  lectures — given  upon  subjects 
connected  with  their  professions"  constituted  much  of  a 

1  Report,  p.  51- 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  64,  66. 

3  The  law  establishing  the  normal  school  at  Ypsilanti  was  passed  ia  1849. 


Branches  of  the  University  139 

teachers'  training  college,  but  they  did  serve  as  a  beginning 
and  showed  the  trend  of  public  educational  sentiment  in 
the  state. 

The  paragraph  quoted  also  reveals  another  interesting 
practice,  which  since  that  time  has  grown  to  large  dimen- 
sions in  connection  with  the  administration  of  the  uni- 
versity. The  Romeo  branch  had  the  beginnings  of  a 
Teachers'  Appointment  Committee,  and  sought,  so  far  as 
possible,  to  secure  teaching  positions  for  its  students. 
That  the  fifty-seven  students  mentioned  in  the  report  all 
received  their  positions  through  the  direct  efforts  of  the 
principal  may  well  be  doubted,  but  a  published  statement 
of  the  policy  of  the  school  in  this  respect  must  have 
had  considerable  influence  in  attracting  other  students 
to  the  doors  of  the  institution. 

The  Report  briefl}^  states  that  "connected  with  the 
institution,  in  a  separate  room,  is  a  female  department. 
The  pupils  of  this  room  are  under  the  immediate  care 
of  an  experienced  instructress,  but  recite  to  the  other 
teachers  when  the  studies  are  such  as  to  reqtiire  it." 
Here,  then,  is  coeducation  with  a  difference.  The 
female  department  which  started  as  an  "annex"  to  the 
boys'  school  had,  here  at  least,  become  sufficiently  ac- 
climated and  correlated  to  permit  the  two  sexes  to  m.eet 
together  in  the  same  recitations;  for  assembly  and  study 
they  still  were  seated  in  separate  rooms.  Yet  when  we 
recall  that  girls  were  not  admitted  to  the  university  until 
twenty  years  later  than  this,  we  need  be  less  surprised 
than  pleased  that  the  branches  were  at  this  time  according 
them  the  courtesies,  privileges,  and  rights  which  they  were.* 

Finally,  President  Walker  announced  the  fact  that  a 
flourishing  literary  society  existed  in  the  Romeo  branch 

1  The  regents  by  resolution  first  made  clear  their  policy  of  admitting  women 
to  all  departments  of  the  university  at  their  meeting  of  Jan.  20,  1870.  (See  Smith, 
op.  cit.,  p.  74.) 


I40  Public  Secondary  Education 

whose  members  met  regularly  once  a  week  for  "purposes 
of  extemporaneous  debate."  "Essays  and  addresses  are 
occasionally  delivered  before  the  society,"  said  he,  "and 
all  proceedings  are  conducted  in  a  manner  calculated  to 
promote  the  improvement  of  its  members." 

This  kind  of  student  activity,  quasi-academic  and  quasi- 
recreative  as  it  was,  was  characteristic  of  the  academy 
and  college  in  all  parts  of  the  land  at  the  time.  Indeed, 
it  seems  to  have  been  nearly  the  sole  diversion  that  was 
allowed  with  the  hearty  approval  of  the  faculties.  The 
more  or  less  stem  religious  spirit  that  dominated  most 
schools  of  the  period  precluded  many  amusements  which 
to-day  are  generally  regarded  as  either  negatively  harmless 
or  else  positively  beneficial,  while  the  reign  of  athletics 
had  not  yet  been  inaugurated.  The  literary  society  of 
the  academy,  the  imiversity  branch,  and  the  college  was 
but  a  modified  form  of  the  rural  spelling  school  and 
lyceum.     All  served  their  generation  well. 

One  can  only  regret  that  complete  records  that  could 
reveal  the  other  characteristics  and  internal  organization 
and  workings  of  these  early  branches  are  lacking.  It  is 
certain  they  served  a  helpful  purpose  in  stimulating  an 
interest  in  secondary  education  and  a  university  training, 
and  they  siu"ely  brought  the  schools  of  both  types  into 
prominence  and  into  a  close  relation  with  the  body  of 
citizens  of  the  state.  Still,  the  branches  served  directly 
only  a  relatively  small  number  of  people,  and  filled 
a  social  need  that,  by  many,  was  considered  not  propor- 
tionate to  the  efforts  put  forth.  "Notwithstanding  the 
pains  taken  to  adapt  these  institutions  to  the  public 
exigencies,"  said  Dr.  Pitcher  in  a  memorial  addressed  to 
posterity  and  incorporated  in  the  report  of  the  regents  for 
1852  (a  more  extended  quotation  from  which  is  attached 
at  the  end  of  this  chapter),  "so  that  their  legitimate 


Branches  of  the  University  141 

function  could  be  performed  without  infringing  upon 
another  portion  of  the  educational  system,  they  soon 
began  to  decline  in  popular  estimation,  because  they 
were  not  able  at  the  same  time  to  perform  the  functions 
of  a  common  school  as  well  as  those  of  a  branch  of  the 
university.  A  feeling  of  jealousy  was  awakened  in  the 
minds  of  those  whose  children  were  excluded  from  them 
from  want  either  of  age  or  quaHfications.  Consequently 
they  were  soon  regarded  as  places  for  the  education  of 
the  (so-called)  aristocracy  of  the  state,  and  the  University 
through  the  influences  of  the  branches  began  to  be  spoken 
of  as  enemy  to  popular  education."^ 

Since  the  prime  purpose  of  the  branches  was  to  prepare 
a  body  of  students  for  the  university,  a  consideration  of 
the  work  done  in  that  institution  at  the  time  may  here 
be  in  place. 

It  has  been  noted  in  earlier  pages  of  this  sketch  that  the 
imiversity,  though  organized  on  paper  as  early  as  18 17  and 
reorganized  in  182 1  and  in  1837,  did  not  really  come  into 
existence  and  open  its  doors  for  the  admission  of  pupils 
until  1 84 1.  While  the  branches  were  preparing  a  body 
of  students  for  admission,  the  authorities  at  Ann  Arbor 
were  preparing  buildings,  apparatus,  and  a  faculty  to 
receive  them.  In  1839,  Dr.  Asa  Gray  was  chosen  as  the 
first  professor  and  v/as  given  the  chair  of  botany  and 
zoology.  Since  the  buildings  were  not  ready,  and  Dr. 
Gray  desired  to  visit  Europe  anyway,  he  was  given  leave 
of  absence,  and  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars  was  placed 
at  his  disposal  with  which  to  purchase  books  for  the  new 
imiversity  library  and  needed  apparatus  for  classroom 
demonstrations.^  The  following  year  Dr.  Houghton  was 
appointed  professor  of   geology  and  mineralogy.'    The 

1  Dr.  Zina  Pitcher's  "Memorial"  in  the  report  of  the  regents  contained  in  the 
Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  i8s?,  p.  315. 

2  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  1852,  p.  49. 

3  Ibtd.,  p.  S2. 


142 


Public  Secondary  Education 


next  year  two  other  professors  were  added,'  so  that  when 
the  university  opened  for  work  on  September  20,  1 841,  it 
had  a  staff  of  four  teachers.  The  students  this  year 
numbered  seven.^  The  first  catalogue  of  the  university 
was  pubhshed  in  1844.  At  that  time  the  faculty  mmi- 
bered  three  professors,  one  tutor,  one  assistant  in  science, 
and  one  visiting  lecturer.  The  number  of  students  had 
increased  to  fifty-three.  The  program  of  studies  offered 
at  this  time  was  as  follows: 
Program  of  Studies  in  the  University  of  Michigan  in  1843' 


< 
w 
>• 

LANGUAGE   AND 
LITERATURE 

MATHEMATICS   AND 
PHYSICS 

INTELLECTUAL   AND 
MORAL   SCIENCE 

I 

I 

2 

3 

Folsom's  Livy,   Xeno- 
phon's  Cyropaedia 
and  Anabasis 

Livy  finished,  Horace, 
Thucydides,  Herodo- 
tus, Roman  Antiqui- 
ties 

Horace   finished, 
Homer's  Odyssey 

Bourdon's  Algebra 

Algebra,      Legen- 
dre's      Geometry, 
Botany 

Geometry,     Men- 
suration,   Appli- 
cation of  Algebra 
to  Geometry 

- 

2 

I 

2 
3 

Cicero's    de    Se?iectute 
and  de  A  micitia . 
Lysias,  Isocrates, 
Demosthenes 

Cicero's     de     Oratore, 
Greek  tragedy,  Gre- 
cian   Antiquities, 
Newcomb's    Rhetoric 

Tacitus'  Vita    Agrico- 
lae     and     Cermanii, 
Greek  tragedy 

Plane  and  Spher- 
ical   Trigonome- 
try 

Davies'     Descrip- 
tive and  Analyti- 
cal Geometry 

Analytic     Geome- 
try,     Bridge's 
Conic   Sections 

Logic 

1  Mr.  George  Williams  was  made  professor  of  mathematics  and  Rev.  Joseph 
Whiting,  professor  of  Latin  and  Greek.     See  Report,  p.  83. 

2  Faculty  Report  in  Joint  Documents,  1842,  p.  389. 

3  Joint  Documents,  1852,  p.  388.  , 


Branches  of  the  University 


143 


> 

LANGUAGE   AND 
LITERATURE 

MATHEMATICS    AND 
PHYSICS 

INTELLECTUAL  AND 
MORAL  SCIENCE 

3 

I 

2 

3 

Cicero's     de     Officiis, 
Greek  poetry 

Terence,  Greek  poetry, 
General  grammar 

Whiteley's  Rhetoric 

Olmstead's    Natu- 
ral     Philosophy, 
Zoology 

Natural     Philoso- 
phy, Chemistry 

Olmstead's       As- 
tronomy,   Chem- 
istry, Mineralogy 

Abercrombie's  In- 
tellectual Power, 
Paley's  Natural 
Theology 

4 

I 

2 

3 

Lectures  on  Greek  and 
Latin  languages  and 
literature 

Geology,  Calculus 

Stuart's  Intellec- 
tual Philosophy, 
Cousin's  Psy- 
chology 

Whiteley's  Logic, 
Wayland's  Moral 
Science,  Politi- 
cal Grammar 

Studies  of  Con- 
stitution. Way- 
land's  Political 
Economy,  But- 
ler's Analogy 

Note:  The  first  commencement  of  the  university  was  held  August  6,  184s, 
at  which  time  eleven  students  were  given  their  A.B.  degree.  (McLaughlin, 
op.  cil.,  p.  42.) 

Even  a  superficial  analysis  of  this  program  discloses 
that  Latin,  Greek,  and  pure  and  applied  mathematics 
constitute  the  bulk  of  the  studies.^  In  the  fourth  or  senior 
year  the  emphasis  is  shifted  to  the  intellectual  and  moral 
sciences.  The  course  was  rigidly  prescribed,  and  con- 
sequently the  preparatory  studies  pursued  in  the  branches 
had  to  be  dogmatically  laid  down.     The  requirements  for 

1  That  is  to  say,  in  1843  there  were  offered,  all  told,  in  the  University  of  Michigan, 
fifty  ttrm  courses.  Of  these,  Latin,  Greek,  and  mathematics  included  26;  natural 
science,  9;  intellectual  science,  s;  moral  and  religious  science,  3;  political  science,  3; 
English,  4. 


144  Public  Secondary  Education 

admission  to  the  university,^  together  with  the  program 
of  studies  as  set  forth  above,  show  that  the  University 
of  Michigan  was  following  pretty  closely  the  ideals  and 
forms  set  by  the  older  colleges  and  imiversities.  Very 
soon,  however,  this  over-emphasis  of  the  classics — 
especially  of  Greek — found  critics.  The  State  Board  of 
Visitors  appointed  to  inspect  the  university,  to  make 
a  report,  and  to  offer  recommendations  declared  that 
they  had  given  some  attention  to  the  relative  impor- 
tance of  the  subjects  of  the  course  of  study,  and  that 
they  believed  certain  modifications  were  desirable.^ 

They  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  total  nimiber 
of  recitations  and  lectiures  given  in  the  imiversity  in  1850 
was  2,545.  Of  these,  330  were  devoted  to  Latin;  630  to 
Greek;  495  to  mathematics,  pure  and  mixed;  236  to 
modem  languages;  and  854  to  all  other  subjects.  They 
thereupon  recommended  that  Greek  and  Latin  be  treated 
alike  and  assigned  400  recitation  periods  each  a  year;  that 
mathematics  be  given  500  meetings;  and  that  French  and 
German  be  increased  to  200  class  recitations  each. 

The  Annual  Report  of  the  regents  for  the  same  year 
gives  the  admission  requirements  as  follows :  ' '  Candidates 
for  admission  to  the  Freshman  Class  must  not  be  less 
than  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  must  sustain  an  examina- 
tion in  English  Grammar,  Geography,  Arithmetic,  Algebra 
through  simple  equations,  first  part  of  Kreb's  Guide  to  the 
Writing  of  Latin,  Latin  Reader,  Cornelius  Nepos  (Arnold's), 
Cicero's  Orations  against  Catiline,  Vergil's  Aeneid,  Greek 
Reader  to  the  poetry,  the  four  Gospels,  Latin  and  Greek 
Grammar,  Keightley's  Grecian  and  Roman  History."' 

Each  class  was  required  to  attend  tliree  recitations  or 
lectxires  daily,  except  Saturday  and  Simday.     On  the 

1  These  are  given  on  page  13s  of  this  chapter. 

2  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  1851.  p.  38. 

3  Ibid.,  1852,  p.  267. 


Branches  of  the  University  145 

former  day  there  was  held  one  exercise  in  elocution.  This 
would  give  the  familiar  sixteen  hours  a  week  schedule 
that  is  known  at  present.  There  were  "also  frequent 
exercises  in  translation,  composition  and  oral  and  written 
disputation" —  the  word  "also"  implying  that  these  were 
subjects  carried  in  addition  to  the  regular  sixteen  hours' 
work.  Public  examinations  were  held  at  the  close  of  each 
term,  and  were  attended  by  the  regents  and  the  Board  of 
Visitors  sitting  in  their  official  capacities.  All  students 
were  required  to  attend  chapel  exercises  daily  in  the 
college  hall,  and  to  attend  public  worship  each  Sabbath 
in  some  one  of  the  churches  in  Ann  Arbor.  Monday 
m.omings  throughout  the  four  years  there  were  compulsory 
classes  in  Bible  study.  In  the  freshman  year  the  Gospels 
were  the  basis  of  work;  in  the  sophomore  year,  the 
Acts;  in  the  junior  and  senior  years,  the  Epistles.  The 
textbook  was  the  Greek  Testament. 

The  year's  work  was  divided  into  three  terms  of  thirteen 
weeks  each.  There  were  two  weeks  of  vacation  at  Christ- 
mas time;  three  at  Easter;  and  eight  in  the  summer. 
Commencement  was  held  the  third  Wednesday  in  July, 
and  the  fall  term  opened  the  second  week  in  September. 
All  admissions  were  still  by  examination  only. 

The  only  charges  of  the  institution  at  this  time  were 
a  matriculation  fee  of  ten  dollars,  and  a  sum  ranging 
from  five  dollars  to  seven  dollars  and  fifty  cents  a  year 
for  room  rent  and  the  services  of  the  janitor.  Tuition 
was  wholly  gratuitous.  "Including  board,  washing,  and 
books  the  necessary  expenses  of  a  student  for  a  year  will 
range  from  $70  to  $100."^     This  was  in  1850. 

Only  slight  changes  had  been  made  in  the  program  of 
studies  since  1843.     In  1850  it  was  as  follows.^ 

1  Taken  from  the  college  catalogue  for  1850  and  given  in  Report  of  Superintendent 
of  Public  Inslruclion,  1832,  p.  269. 

2  Ibid. 

n 


146  Public  Secondary  Education 

Freshman  Year 
first  term 
Livy  (Lincoln's  or  Folsom's),  Roman  Antiquities  (Eschenberg's 
Manual),  Homer's  Odyssey  (Owen's),  Bourdon's  Algebra,  Newman's 
Rhetoric. 

SECOND  TERM 

Livy,     Ancient     History,     Grecian     Antiquities     (Eschenberg's 
Manual),  Homer's  Odyssey,  Algebra,  Legendre's  Geometry. 

THIRD  TERM 

Horace's  Odes,  'K.e.no^ih.on's  Anabasis  (Owen's),  Geometry,  Botany, 

Zoology. 

Monday    morning    throughout    the    year,    Greek    Testament 

(Gospels). 

Sophomore  Year 

first  term 

Newman's    Rhetoric,    Horace's    Satires,    Xenophon's    Anabasis, 

Plane  and  Spherical  Trigonometry,  Conic  Sections. 

SECOND  TERM 

Analytical  Geometry  and  Calculus,  Tacitus'  Germaniae  and  Agri- 
colae  (Tyler's),  Demosthenes'  de  Corona,  Isocrates. 

THIRD  TERM 

Sophocles,  Cicero's  de  Senectute  and  de  Amicitia,  French. 
Monday  morning  throughout  the  year,  Greek  Testament  (Acts). 

Junior  Year 
first  term 
Wayland's  Political  Economy,  Logic,  French,  Olmstead's  Natural 
Philosophy. 

SECOND  TERM 

Tacitus'   Historia,    Euripides,    Natural   Philosophy,    Chemistry, 
Mineralogy. 

THIRD  TERM 

German,  Blair's  Rhetoric,  Olmstead's  Astronomy. 

Monday    mornings    throughout    the    year,    Greek    Testament 

(Epistles). 

Senior  Year 

FIRST  term 

Geology,  Upham's  Mental  Philosophy,  German. 

SECOND  TERM 

Upham's  Mental  Philosophy  (3d  Vol.),  Whiteley's  Logic,   Way- 
land's  Moral  Science,  Natural  Theology,  Evidences  of  Christianity. 


Branches  of  the  University  147 

THIRD  TERM 

Butler's  Analogy,  Plato's  Gorgias. 

Monday    mornings    throughout    the    year,    Greek   Testament 

(Epistles). 

The  total  ntimber  of  students  ini85owas72.  Ten  years 
later  it  was  519;  in  1880-81  it  reached  1,534;^  in  1907-8 
the  total  was  5,010;^  and  in  1913-14  the  members  ag- 
gregated 6,857.^     Of  these ,  more  than  1,200  were  women . 

Naturally  the  branches  had  to  keep  step  with  this 
restricted  program  of  the  imiversity;  —  at  least  the  pre- 
paratory or  classical  departments  had  to  do  so.  In 
consequence,  as  we  have  seen,  popular  approval  was 
gradually  withdrawn  from  both  types  of  institution. 
In  1850,  the  date  of  the  program  given  above,  the  Romeo 
branch  was  the  only  one  in  existence,  and  this  was  sup- 
ported by  local  fimds.  Still,  at  this  very  time  there  was 
a  demand  on  the  part  of  the  more  progressive  citizens 
and  the  lovers  of  popular  education  that  the  branches  be 
revived  and  supported.  Indeed,  pressure  was  brought  to 
bear  upon  the  legislature  so  that  a  law  was  enacted 
requiring  the  regents  to  continue  their  appropriations  to 
the  branches.  This  act  placed  the  authorities  in  an 
embarrassing  position.  Though  eager  and  ready  to 
comply,  the  state  of  finances  was  still  such  as  to  render 
impossible  a  just  and  adequate  maintenance  for  both 
the  imiversity  and  the  dependent  schools.  To  attempt 
to  do  so,  the  regents  felt,  would  cripple  both  and  lead 
finally  to  a  retrograde  movement  in  all  that  had  been 
planned.  Forttmately  —  or  unfortimately  —  the  courts 
came  to  the  aid  of  the  university,  and  disposed  of  the 
difficulty  by  setting  aside  the  newly  enacted  law  and  by  so 

1  President's  Report,  1 88 1,  p.  I.  The  Department  of  Medicine  was  opened  in 
185 1 ;  that  of  Law  in  i860;  those  of  Homeopathy  and  Dentistry  in  1876;  that  of 
Pharmacy  in  1877. 

2  Catalogue,  1907-8.  p.  470.  In  1906-7  there  were  741  women  students 
enrolled.     President's  Report,   1907,  p.   2. 

3  Catalogue,  1914-15.  p.  707. 


148  Public  Secondary  Education 

construing  the  constitution  that  the  regents  were  given 
full  pov/er  to  deal  with  the  university  as  they  thought 
wise.  Left  free  to  act  as  judgment  dictated,  the  regents 
took  no  further  notice  of  the  conflicting  requests,  but  left 
the  branches,  as  they  had  been  left  since  1846,  to  live  or 
die  as  fate  might  decide. 

All  hope  of  their  official  revival  was  now  abandoned, 
and  the  friends  of  public  education  directed  their  view 
and  attention  to  secondary  schools  of  other  kinds.  Such 
institutions  had,  as  we  have  hinted,  already  become  well 
started,  and  from  this  date  they  advanced  rapidly. 
Thus  died  the  branches  of  the  University  of  Michigan. 

As  a  final  justification  of  their  policy  carried  out  during 

the  fourteen  years,  the  regents  authorized  one  of  their 

number.  Dr.  Zina  Pitcher,  to  prepare  an  address  that  was 

printed    and    distributed    over    the    state.     The    most 

significant  parts  of  this  address  are  here  appended:^ 

Having  selected  the  site  of  the  University,  secured  the  means 
of  erecting  the  buildings,  purchasing  the  library,  and  of  having 
other  things  necessary  to  lay  its  foundation,  it  became  apparent 
that  the  materials  for  the  construction  of  the  living  edifice  were  not 
at  hand.  The  blocks  for  the  statuary  were  in  the  quarry,  but  there 
were  no  hands  to  hew  them  into  form.  Our  political  and  social 
institutions  were  yet  in  a  transition  state.  The  common  schools 
were  then  in  chaos,  and  our  whole  system  of  Public  Instruction  in 
the  state,  at  best,  [was  in  a  condition]  of  inchoation.  Believing 
that  the  attempt  to  establish  or  organize  the  University  at  this 
stage  of  our  political  existence,  in  this  condition  of  the  other  edu- 
cational institutions  of  the  state,  would  prove  abortive,  the  regents 
resolved  (as  a  constitutional  authority  or  warrant  for  so  doing  had 
not  then  been  questioned,)  to  invert  the  order  of  things  contem- 
plated in  the  organic  law,  and  proceed  at  once  to  the  establishment 
of  braiiches  as  a  means  of  furnishing  the  elements  necessary  to  give 
vitality  to  the  central  institution,  when  the  time  for  appointing  its 
Faculty  should  arrive. 

1  The  address  in  full  is  found  on  pages  312  Jf.  of  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction,  1852.  It  epitomizes  the  transactions  of  the  regents  from  1837  to 
June  30,  1851. 


Branches  of  the  University  149 

In  order  to  carry  this  purpose  into  effect,  the  committee  on 
branches  was  authorized  to  employ  an  agent  to  visit  the  different 
sections  of  the  state  and  engage  the  cooperation  of  citizens  living 
at  such  points  as  seemed  most  suitable  for  the  establishment  of 
branches,  and  report  his  doings  to  the  Board.  This  agent,  who  was 
restricted  to  eight  localities,  reported  in  favor  of  locating  a  branch 
at  Pontiac,  Detroit,  Monroe,  Tecumseh,  Niles,  Grand  Rapids, 
Palmer  and  Jackson,  the  citizens  of  which  were  required  to  furnish 
the  site  and  the  edifice  necessary  for  the  accommodation  of  the  pupils. 
On  the  fulfillment  of  these  conditions,  branches  were  organized  at 
Monroe,  Tecumseh,  Niles,  White  Pigeon,  Kalamazoo,  Pontiac, 
Romeo  and  Detroit.  A  department  for  the  education  of  females 
was  added  to  the  branch  at  Monroe,  Tecumseh,  White  Pigeon, 
Kalamazoo,  and  Romeo.  Branches  were  also  located  at  Mackinac, 
Jackson,  Utica,  Ypsilanti  and  Coldwater,  but  no  appropriations 
were  ever  made  for  their  support. 

On  the  first  organization  of  the  Board  of  Regents,  it  included  no 
clerical  members.  For  this  reason,  the  University  then  in  jiituro, 
was  stigmatized  as  an  infidel  affair,  which,  it  was  predicted,  would 
fail  to  perform  the  functions  for  which  it  had  been  endowed.  This 
prediction  was  uttered  with  much  confidence  in  certain  quarters, 
and  an  act  for  the  incorporation  of  a  sectarian  college  was  urged 
through  the  Legislature,  partly  by  the  force  of  an  appeal  to  the 
religious  feeling  of  the  members,  based  on  this  accusation.  Partly 
with  a  view  to  disarm  that  kind  of  opposition,  and  more  especially 
because  they  believed  it  to  be  a  duty,  irrespective  of  it,  the  Board 
was  careful  to  introduce  the  elements  of  religion  into  the  branches, 
which  they  did  by  the  appointment  of  clergymen  of  the  different 
denominations  as  principals  thereof. 

In  the  adoption  of  rules  for  the  government  of  the  branches, 
special  care  was  taken  to  guard  the  common  school  interest  from 
injury,  by  requiring  candidates  for  admission  to  undergo  a  pre- 
paratory examination.  Tuition  was  to  be  paid  in  advance.  A 
treasurer  was  appointed  for  each  branch,  who  was  required  to 
make  a  report  of  the  funds  in  his  hands,  at  the  close  of  each  term. 
The  course  of  study  to  be  pursued  therein  was  prescribed  by  the 
Board  of  Regents,  which  embraced  the  preparation  of  the  pupil 
for  college,  his  qualification  for  business,  or  for  teaching,  as  he 
might  himself  elect. 

With  the  design  of  inducing  young  men  who  had  been  educated 
at    the   branches,    to    engage   in    the    business   of   instruction,    a 


ISO  Public  Secondary  Education 

regulation  was  adopted  which  authorized  the  treasurer  to  refund 
the  money  paid  for  tuition,  to  all  such  persons  as  should  furnish 
to  him  evidence  of  having  been  engaged  in  teaching,  having 
regard  to  the  time  they  had  been  thus  employed.  A  board  of 
visitors  was  also  appointed  for  each  branch,  to  whom  such  powers 
were  delegated  as  seemed  necessary  to  the  practical  working  of 
the  system. 

Notwithstanding  the  pains  taken  to  adapt  these  institutions 
to  the  public  exigencies,  so  that  their  legitimate  functions  could  be 
performed  without  infringing  upon  another  portion  of  the  educa- 
tional system,  they  soon  began  to  decline  in  popular  estimation, 
because  they  were  not  able  at  the  same  time  to  perform  the  functions 
of  a  common  school  as  well  as  a  branch  of  the  University.  A  feel- 
ing of  jealousy  was  awakened  in  the  minds  of  those  whose  children 
were  excluded  from  them  either  from  want  of  age  or  qualifications. 
Consequently  they  were  soon  regarded  as  places  for  the  education 
of  the  (so-called)  aristocracy  of  the  state,  and  the  University,  through 
the  influence  of  the  branches,  began  to  be  spoken  of  as  an  enemy  to 
popular  education.  If  an  opinion  may  be  formed  of  public  senti- 
ment by  the  tone  of  certain  official  papers,  it  would  appear  that 
that  feeling,  instead  of  becoming  extinct,  has  only  changed  the 
mode  and  place  of  its  appearing. 

Finding  that  the  branches  were  drawing  largely  upon  the  fund 
designed  for  the  construction  of  the  University  building,  and  that 
they  were  not  satisfactorily  accomplishing  the  end  for  which  they 
had  been  established,  the  Board  of  Regents,  after  mature  delibera- 
tion, being  fully  assured  that  the  expense  of  keeping  them  up  was 
greatly  disproportioned  to  the  benefits  accruing  therefrom,  sus- 
pended, in  1846,  all  appropriations  for  their  support,  after  more 
than  $30,000  had  been  expended  in  trying  to  sustain  them. 

Whilst  this  trial  was  being  made  of  the  utility  of  branches. 
Professor  Gray  was  in  Europe  selecting  the  library  of  the  University, 
and  Dr.  Torrey,  of  New  York,  was  negotiating  the  purchase  of  the 
Lederer  cabinet  of  foreign  minerals,  which  now  constitutes  the 
principal  sources  of  attraction  to  persons  visiting  this  institution. 

From  this  experimental  though  abortive  effort  to  build  up  and 
sustain  branches  of  the  University,  the  Board  have  learned,  and 
they  deem  the  lesson  of  sufficient  importance  to  leave  it  on  record, 
that  local  institutions  of  learning  thrive  best  under  the  immediate 
management  of  the  citizens  of  the  place  in  which  they  are  situated, 
and  when  endowed  or  sustained  by  their  immediate  patrons. 


CHAPTER  VII 
The  Academy  Movement 

THE  second  great  type  of  secondary  school  in  Michigan 
was  the  academy.  While,  as  elsewhere,  this  class  of 
schools  was  not,  strictly  speaking,  a  part  of  the  state- 
supported  educational  system,  the  different  foundations 
were  nevertheless  quasi-public  institutions  which  were 
chartered  and  regulated  by  the  state  and  which  the 
people  then  regarded  essentially  as  public  schools. 
Certain  it  is  that  during  the  two  decades  in  particu- 
lar—  from  1839  to  1859  —  the  academies  and  kindred 
institutions  played  a  notable  part  in  the  history  of 
secondary  education  in  Michigan.  Indeed,  a  historical 
accoimt  of  the  public  secondary  schools  of  this  state 
would  be  wholly  incomplete  without  a  brief  sketch  of 
the  rise  and  status  of  the  academy. 

In  earHer  chapters  we  have  seen  that  there  were  a  few 
private  schools  of  the  academy  type  in  Michigan  even 
before  the  state  was  admitted  into  the  Union.  The 
records  respecting  these  are,  however,  scant  indeed.  For 
the  most  part  they  are  the  merest  legal  statements  respect- 
ing the  terms  of  the  charters  given,  or  the  briefest  accounts 
of  the  fact  that  a  particular  school  was  "kept"  by  a 
particular  person  at  a  particular  time  and  place.  This 
is  all.  There  is  nothing  available  that  yields  returns 
worthy  of  the  search.  Apparently  most,  if  not  all,  of 
these  early  private  schools  were  of  short  duration  and  of 
doubtful  financial  success.  Many  of  them  taught  the 
classical  languages  and  French,^  and  may,  in  a  sense, 

iMr.  William  D.  Wilkins,  in  an  article  styled  "Traditions  and  Reminiscences 
of  the  Public  Schools  of  Detroit,"  in  the  Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  Vol.  i,  p. 
448,  speaks  of  there  being  "public"  schools  in  Detroit  in  1802,  1816,  1823,  and, 
later.     Some  of  these  taught  the  classics,  but  not  one,  surely,  was  a  public  school 

in  the  present  meaning  of  the  term. 


152  Public  Secondary  Education 

be  looked  upon  as  schools  of  secondary  education.  How- 
ever, since  in  that  age  these  languages  were  considered 
essential  for  even  any  true  elementary  education,  it  would 
be  equally  just  to  omit  from  consideration  all  these 
schools,  as  falhng  below  the  grade  of  institutions  under 
treatment  in  this  thesis. 

When,  too,  it  is  recalled  that  the  total  population  of 
Michigan  in  1830  numbered  only  31,639,^  and  that  the 
real  movement  toward  settling  this  territory  had  begun 
only  about  five  years  earlier  than  this,  one  is  not  siu*- 
prised  to  learn  that  even  private  schools  were  then  few 
and  inferior.  Certain  it  is  that  previous  to  1830  there 
were  in  the  territory  no  incorporated  schools.^  The 
schools  that  did  exist  had  a  denominational  or  personal 
basis,  and  enjoyed  only  transitory  careers. 

Between  1830  and  1836  a  number  of  private  academies 
were  founded,  and  some  received  legal  charters  from  the 
territorial  government.^  A  list  of  these  will  be  given 
later.  Most  of  them,  however,  were  short  lived, —  the 
only  one  that  enjoyed  a  permanent  existence  and  exerted 
a  lasting  influence  being  the  Spring  Arbor  Academy, 
chartered  March  23,  1835. 

With  the  admission  of  Michigan  to  statehood  and  the 
decision  of  the  educational  authorities  to  establish  a 
series  of  branches  of  the  university,  the  academy  move- 
ment was  much  affected.  There  was  a  strong  temporary 
movement  forward,  followed  by  a  short  period  of  depres- 
sion, and  then  again  a  new  advance  was  made.     At  first, 

1  U.S.  Census  Reports. 

2  Fanner's  History  of  Detroit,  p.  98.  .      .      ,       .      n»- 

3  In  Detroit  alone  there  were  the  following  unincorporated  schools:  the  Misses 
Farrand's  Young  Ladies'  Seminary  and  Mr.  George  Wilson's  English  Classical 
School,  both  established  in  1830;  J.  B.  Howe's  Classical  Academy,  1852;  D.  B. 
Crane's  Classical  School,  1833;  Messrs.  Taopan  and  Nichols  Detroit  Female 
Seminary,  1833.  In  T834  the  Mechanics'  Society  opened  the  Mechanics'  Academy, 
and  also  had  a  Classical  School.  In  1836  Rev.  R.  Elms  was  at  the  head  of  the 
Detroit  Classical  Academy.  There  were  also  at  this  time  Catholic  schools  in 
goodly  numbers.     (See  Farmer's  History  of  Detroit,  pp.  716  #.) 


The  Academy  Movement  153 

existing  academies  sought  to  be  transformed  into  branches 
and  to  be  placed  under  the  patronage  and  dignity  of  the 
state.  Many  new  academies  were  projected,  some  were 
organized,  and  appeals  were  made  to  the  regents  for 
recognition  as  branches.  When,  however,  it  was  seen 
to  be  the  policy  of  the  state  to  limit  the  branches  to  a 
relatively  small  number,  enthusiasm  for  the  local  private 
institution  waned.  Numerous  projected  undertakings 
were  abandoned  altogether,  and  many  that  had  already 
been  established  suffered  from  neglect  and  lack  of  stu- 
dents and  funds.  For  a  few  years  popular  interest  in 
secondary  education  centered  in  the  state-supported 
branches.  Nevertheless,  despite  these  adverse  tendencies, 
nearly  every  year  during  this  period  witnessed  the  incor- 
poration of  a  new  school  of  the  academy  type,  so  that 
when  in  1846  the  regents  abandoned  the  branches  to  their 
fates,  popular  interest  turned  again  to  the  earlier  schools, 
and  an  era  of  renewed  prosperity  set  in.  During  the  next 
ten  years  the  academy  movement  reached  the  height  of  its 
importance  in  Michigan.  At  the  end  of  that  decade  the 
public  imion  schools  had  secured  a  firm  footing,  and  the 
academies  gradually  disappeared  from  among  the  notable 
educational  institutions  of  secondary  grade  in  the  state. 

Just  how  many  of  these  schools  there  were  in  the  state 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  determine.  Many,  as  we  have 
said,  seem  to  have  been  undertaken  with  enthusiasm  only 
to  be  abandoned  within  a  few  months  or  weeks  because 
of  lack  of  funds  and  patronage.^  Others  arose  and  had 
a  more  or  less  dazzling  success  but  were  never  incor- 
porated, and  hence  left  no  official  records  of  their  work.^ 

1  Examples  of  these  are  the  Utica  Female  Seminary,  incorporated  1844;  Clinton 
Institute,  1846;  Woodstock  Man'.tal  Labor  Institute,  1848. 

2  Two  of  this  kind  of  which  fate  has  preserved  a  record  are  the  Misses  Clark's 
Female  Seminary  at  Ann  Arbor,  opened  in  1839,  and  Dr.  Fitch's  Detroit  Female 
Seminary,  opened  in  1841.  Neither  of  these  was  ever  incorporated.  (See  A.  D.  P. 
Van  Buren's  "The  Old  Academy  and  Seminary"  in  Mich.  Hist.  Col.,  Vol.  18,  p.  397.) 


154  Public  Secondary  Education 

Others,  again,  were  incorporated;  ran  a  short  course;  died 
out;  and  were  later  revived  imder  the  same  or  a  different 
name.^  The  question  arises  —  should  credit  be  given  for 
one  or  two  or  more  schools? 

In  addition  to  academies  and  seminaries  there  also 
arose  after  1839  several  institutions  of  a  similar  character 
which,  however,  bore  the  more  dignified  title  of  "college," 
and  were  empowered  to  grant  degrees  and  to  bestow  the 
privileges  that  other  colleges  did.  Several  of  these  had 
attached  to  them  preparatory  departments,^  and  it  seems 
certain,  moreover,  that  in  some  instances  the  college  course 
itself  was  little  or  no  further  advanced  than  the  course 
foimd  in  the  better  class  of  academies  or  seminaries.^  For 
example,  the  Michigan  Central  College,  chartered  in  1845, 
was  not  given  the  right  to  confer  degrees  or  grant  diplomas 
imtil  five  years  later,  in  1850.* 

The  early  history  of  one  of  these  colleges  in  particular — 
Michigan  College,  located  at  Marshall — is  both  interest- 
ing and  pertinent  to  our  theme.  It  will  be  recalled  that 
Superintendent  Pierce,  when  he  took  charge  of  educa- 
tion in  the  state  in  1836,  favored  a  highly  central- 
ized, monopolistic  state  system  of  education.  Doubtless 
overinfluenced  by  admiration  for  the  Prussian  system 
of  government  and  of  school  administration,  he  opposed 
most  stubbornly  and  vehemently  any  plan  that  would  tend 
to  imdermine  or  detract  from  the  powers  and  prestige  of 
the  state.  Hence  he  set  his  great  personal  influence  and 
the  strength  of  his  official  position  in  opposition  to  any 
scheme  that  had  for  its  aim  the  incorporating  of  colleges 

1  The  Clinton  Institute  at  Mt.  Clemens  is  an  illustration  of  this  fact. 

2  For  example,  Michigan  Central  College  at  Spring  Arbor  had  attached  to  it  the 
Spring  Arbor  Academy ;  Kalamazoo  College  had  a  preparatory  course ;  and  Wesleyan 
Seminary  and  Albion  Female  College  were  one  and  the  same  institution. 

3  I  find  no  exact  distinction  between  these  two  terms.  As  a  rule,  in  Michigan, 
the  word  seminary  signified  an  institution  of  secondary  instruction  for  women  only; 
the  academy  was  usually  coeducational. 

4  Jontl  Documents  of  Michigan,  1851,  p.  500. 


The  Academy  Movement  155 

that  should  be  rivals  of  the  state  university.  The  test 
of  power  came  in  1838  when  the  tnistees  of  Michigan 
College  sought  a  charter  from  the  legislature. 

The  association  had  existed  since  1833  and  had  looked 
forward  for  several  years  to  the  realization  of  the  ideal 
to  found  a  college  embodying  the  particular  religious 
faith  of  its  members.  Mr.  Pierce  fought  the  plan  fiercely 
before  the  legislature  and  based  his  objections  chiefly  on 
the  following  arguments:  (i)  If  one  college  is  chartered, 
others  will  follow  imtil  the  state  will  be  covered  over  with 
little,  weak,  struggling  institutions  that  will  bring  college 
education  into  contempt;  (2)  such  institutions  will  divide 
the  patronage  of  the  commonwealth  and  detract  from 
the  University  of  Michigan;  (3)  they  will  create  literary 
factions  founded  perhaps  on  religious  opinions;  and 
(4)  they  will  introduce  "pernicious  differences  in  the 
course  of  instruction." 

The  committee  of  the  legislature  to  which  the  question 
was  referred  did  not,  however,  share  Mr.  Pierce's  views. 
The  majority  report  so  stated  the  decision  and  recom- 
mended that  the  charter  be  granted.  The  salient  features 
of  that  report  are  worthy  of  insertion  here.  One  reads: 
"The  majority  of  your  committee  have  anxiously  delib- 
erated upon  the  evils  anticipated  by  the  superintendent 
in  granting  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners,  but  have  not 
been  able  to  persuade  themselves  of  their  reality.  They 
carmot  appreciate  the  force  of  the  objection  made,  that 
by  granting  the  franchise  asked,  we  encourage  others  to 
make  like  requests.  .  .  .  They  deem  it  the  duty  of 
the  legislature  not  only  to  prevent  all  impediments,  but 
to  afford  facilities  for  the  progress  of  general  education; 
to  speak  words  of  encouragement  rather  than  of  re- 
straint to  those  who  volunteer  aid ;  and  not  from  any  over- 
weening fondness  for  one  institution  or  one  particular 


156  Public  Secondary  Education 

system  to  place  all  others  under  the  ban  of  power.  "^ 

The  next  year,  in  1839,  the  college  was  duly  chartered 
and  the  way  was  opened  for  other  similar  institutions. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  here  to  speak  of  the  wisdom  or  the 
lack  of  wisdom  of  this  piece  of  legislation.  The  point 
that  concerns  us  is  that  from  this  date  other  colleges  than 
the  State  University  existed  in  Michigan,  and  that  in 
consequence  these,  too,  put  forth  efforts  to  secure  stu- 
dents and  hence  exerted  their  influence  to  foster  prepara- 
tory schools  of  one  kind  or  another.  That  class  of  people 
who  aspired  to  give  their  children  a  college  education, 
but  who  looked  upon  the  State  University  as  non-religious, 
if  not  absolutely  irreligious,  could  now  find  other  schools 
that  met  their  approval  and  favor.  These  new  centers 
of  higher  learning  helped,  therefore,  to  spread  an  interest 
in  knowledge  and  culture,  and  hence  helped  to  foster 
the  rise  of  academies,  seminaries,  and  other  institutions 
giving  pre-collegiate  instruction.  The  next  few  years, 
therefore,  saw  a  rapid  increase  in  schools  of  these  kinds. 

Still  one  other  type  of  educational  institution  shoiild  be 
mentioned  in  this  connection.  This  was  the  chartered 
literary  society,  whose  leading  purpose  was  "for  moral 
and  intellectual  improvement"  of  its  members  through 
mutual  self-help.  Although  not  in  themselves  strictly 
schools  of  secondary  education,  these  societies  not  infre- 
quently pursued  studies  that  belonged  to  the  category  of  a 
secondary  program  of  studies,  and  were  the  stepping  stones 
for  some  youths  to  a  full  college  career. 

The  Adrian  Lyceum  and  Benevolent  Association 
expressly  stated  that  among  other  aims  it  purposed  to 
"provide  for  the  Education  of  Orphan  Children";^  while 
the  Lawrence  Literary  Institute  Association,  founded  in 

1  House  Documents,  1838,  No.  11,  p.  120. 

2  Joint  Docu-menls  of  the  Legislature  of  Michigan,  1851,  No.  19,  p.  541. 


The  Academy  Movement  157 

1850,  had  inserted  in  its  charter  this  section:  "Said 
corporation  shall  have  power  to  establish  in  the  village 
of  Lawrence,  in  the  County  of  Van  Buren,  an  institution 
for  the  instruction  of  young  persons  in  the  ordinary 
and  higher  departments  of  learning."^ 

The  first  of  these  associations  chartered  seems  to  have 
been  that  of  the  Detroit  Young  Men's  Society  in  1836.^ 

All  these  societies  were  liable  to  be  called  upon  for 
an  annual  report  to  the  legislature,  but  such  reports  were 
not  made  mandatory  by  the  charters.  Likewise,  too, 
all  chartered  educational  institutions  of  other  types 
were  expected  to  make  such  annual  reports.  Indeed, 
the  act  of  1839  expressly  required  such  reports  from  all.' 
Few,  however,  complied  with  the  law.  In  his  report 
of  1849,  Superintendent  Mayhew  said  that  after  examin- 
ing the  laws  back  as  far  as  1841  there  appeared  to  be 
seventeen  incorporated  literary  and  educational  institu- 
tions in  the  state.  Five  of  these,  he  added,  were  subject 
to  visitation  by  state  authorities,  just  as  the  university 
was  subject  to  inspection.  These  were  Adrian  Academy, 
incorporated  in  1846;  Woodstock  Manual  Labor  Institute, 
incorporated  in  1848;  Leoni  Seminary,  incorporated  in 
1848;  Olivet  Institute,  incorporated  in  1848;  and  Howell 
Academy,  incorporated  in  1848.  Three  others  were 
required  to  make  annual  reports :  Vermontville  Academ- 
ical Association,  1846;  White  Pigeon  Academy,  1847;  and 
Clinton  Institute,  1846.  Eight  were  not  required  to 
report  or  to  be  visited  by  the  superintendent,*  while  one — 

1  Ibid..  No.  306,  p.  543- 

2  Ibid.,  p.  S39. 

3  School  Law  of  1852,  p.  497;  also  Joint  Documents,  1851,  p.  497.  This  law 
required  "every  organized  academy  or  literary  or  collegiate  institution,  heretofore 
incorporated  or  hereafter  to  be  incorporated,  to  cause  to  be  made  out — and  for- 
warded— to  the  office  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  between  the  ist  and 
iSth  days  of  December  of  each  year,"  a  complete  report  of  conditions  and  work 
of  the  institution.     This  law  was  approved  March  4,  1S39. 

*  This  statement  of  Mr.  Mayhew  s  seems  to  have  been  made  without  taking 
into  consideration  the  general  law  of  1839,  cited  above.  Of  the  eight  institutions 
mentioned  three  were  Female  Institutions  and  one  a  Theological  Institute. 


158  Public  Secotidary  Education 

the  Michigan  Central  College — was,  by  law,  required 
to  be  visited  and  examined  annually  by  the  superintendent 
in  person.^  How  lightly  the  statutes  weighed  upon  the 
consciences  of  the  various  trustees  is  seen  from  the  pithy 
closing  sentence:    "None  have  comphed  with  the  law."^ 

/         Thus,  beginning  with  1835,  there  arose  in  the  state  a 
whole  series  of  institutions  of  a  semi-pubHc,  semi-private, 

'       or   denominational    character   that   helped   mightily   to 

J      carry    forward    secondary    education.     These   were    the 

'       unchartered  schools  of  one  kind  or  another;  the  chartered 

literary   associations,    academies,    seminaries,   institutes, 

and  colleges;  the  branches  of  the  university;  and  the 

union  schools.^ 

It  may  be  of  interest,  especially  to  citizens  of  Michigan, 
to  have  a  complete  list  of  all  these  chartered  schools, 
together  with  the  dates  of  their  incorporation.  I  append 
here  such  a  list:* 

Title  Incorporated 

1.  Ann  Arbor  Academy,  Ann  Arbor 1830 

2.  Auburn  Academy,  Auburn 1831 

3.  White  Pigeon  Academy,  White  Pigeon 1831 

4.  Cass  County  Academy,  Cassopolis 1833 

5.  Michigan  and  Huron  Institute,  Kalamazoo 1833 

6.  Michigan  Manual  Labor  Institute,  Washtenaw  Co.. . .  1833 

7.  Pontiac  Academy,  Pontiac 1833 

8.  Richland  Academy,  Richland 1833 

9.  Romeo  Academy,  Romeo 1833 

ID.  Shelby  Liberal  Institute,  Macomb  Co 1833 

11.  Spring  Arbor  Seminary,  Spring  Arbor ^ 1 835 

12.  Marshall  Academy,  White  Pigeon 1836 

13.  Detroit  Young  Men's  Society,  Detroit 1836 

14.  Kalamazoo  Literary  Institute,  Kalamazoo 1837 

15.  Tecumseh  Academy,  Tecumseh 1838 

16.  Grass  Lake  Academy  and  Female  Seminary,  Grass 

Lake 1839 

17.  Grand  River  Theological  Seminary,  Orion 1839 

1  Joint  Documents,  1840.  No.  6,  p.  60. 

2  The  superintendent  himself  had,  of  course,  visited  and  examined  the  Mich- 
igan Central  College. 

3  We  shall  treat  of  these  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

4  This  list  is  compiled  from  the  JotjU  Documents,  Legislative  Acts,  Reports 
of  Superintendents  of  Public  Instruction,  and  other  source  materials. 

6  This  school  was  rechartered  by  an  amended  act  in  1837. 


The  Academy  Movement  159 

Title  Incorporated 

18.  Marshall  Female  Academy,  Marshall 1839 

19.  Marshall  College  (Michigan  College),  Marshall 1839 

20.  St.  Philip's  College  (Catholic),  Detroit 1839 

21.  Wesleyan  Seminary,  Albion^ 1841 

22.  Allegan  Academy,  Allegan 1843 

23.  Utica  Female  Seminary,  Utica 1844 

24.  Grand  Rapids  Academy,  Grand  Rapids 1844 

25.  Ann  Arbor  Female  Seminary,  Ann  Arbor 2 1845 

26.  Michigan  Central  College,  Spring  Arbor 1845 

27.  Ypsilanti  Seminary,  Ypsilanti 1845 

28.  Adrian  Seminary,  Adrian 1846 

29.  Adrian    Lyceum    and     Benevolent    Association    for 

Orphan  Children,  Adrian 1846 

30.  Clinton  Institute,  Mt.  Clemens 1846 

31.  Owosso  Literary  Institute,  Owosso 1846 

32.  Vermontville  Academical  Institution,  Vermontville .  .  1846 

33.  White  Pigeon  Academy,  White  Pigeon 1847 

34.  Raisin  Institute,  Lenawee  Co 1847 

35.  Howell  Institute,  Howell 1848 

36.  Leoni  Theological  Institute,  Leoni 1848 

37.  Leoni  Seminary,  Leoni 1848 

38.  Olivet  Institute,  Olivet 1848 

39.  Woodstock  Manual  Labor  Seminary,  Woodstock 1848 

40.  Tecumseh  Literary  Institute,  Tecumseh 1849 

41.  Oakland  Female  Seminary,  Pontiac 1849 

42.  Clinton  Institute,  Mt.  Clemens 1850 

43.  Monroe  Young  Ladies'  Seminary  and  Collegiate  Insti- 

tute, Monroe 1850 

44.  Clarkston  Academical  Institute,  Clarkston 1850 

45.  St.  Mark's  College,  Grand  Rapids 1850 

46.  St.  Mary's  Academy,  Bertrand 1850 

47.  Union  Hall  Association,  Monroe 1850 

48.  Almont  Young  Men's  Society,  Almont 1850 

49.  Lawrence  Literary  Institute  Association,  Lawrence.  .  .  1850 

50.  Niles  Union  Hall  Association,  Niles 1850 

51.  Academy  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  Detroit 1850 

52.  Albion  Female  Collegiate  Institute,  Albion 1850 

53.  Disco  Academy,  Disco 1850 

54.  Kalamazoo  Literary  Institute,  Kalamazoo 1851 

55.  Dickinson  Institute,  Romeo 1855 

56.  German  English  School,  Detroit 1857 

57.  Colon  Seminary,  Colon 1858 

58.  Lapeer  Seminary,  Lapeer 1858 

59.  Michigan  Female  Seminary,  Kalamazoo 1859 

60.  Michigan  Collegiate  Institute,  Leoni 1859 

61.  Michigan  Female  College,  Lansing 1859 

1  This  was  an  amended  act.     The  real  incorporation  was  earlier. 

2  There  was  also  established  at  Ann  Arbor  this  same  year  the  Misses  Clark 
School.  This  was  really  a  seminary,  but  was  distinct  from  the  so-called  Female 
Seminary. 


i6o  Public  Secondary  Education 

Title  Incorporated 

62.  Detroit  Female  Seminary,  Detroit 1859 

63.  German  American  Seminary,  Detroit 1 863 

64.  Lansing  Academy,  Lansing 1 863 

65.  Raisin  Valley  Seminary,  Adrian 1863 

66.  Bedford  Harmonical  Seminary,  Calhoun  Co 1865 

67.  German  English  School,  Grand  Rapids 1865 

68.  Coldwater  Female  Seminary,  Coldwater 1866 

69.  Fenton  Seminary,  Fenton 1868 

70.  Trinity  School,  Fenton 1868 

71.  Oak  Grove  Academy,  Medina 1873 

72.  Spring  Arbor  Seminary,  Spring  Arbor 1873 

73.  Michigan  Military  Academy,  Orchard  Lake 1877 

74.  Theological  School  of  the  Christian  Reformed  Church, 

Grand  Rapids 1878 

75.  Somerville  School,  St.  Clair 1880 

76.  Seminary  of  the  Felician  Sisters,  Detroit 1882 

77.  Detroit  Home  and  Day  School,  Detroit 1882 

78.  Academy  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  Grosse  Point  Farms.  . .  1885 

79.  Akeley  Hall,  Grand  Haven 1889 

80.  St.  Mary's  Academy,  Monroe 1890 

81.  Detroit  School  for  Boys,  Detroit 1890 

82.  Cleary  Business  College,  Ypsilanti 1891 

83.  Benton  Harbor  Collegiate  Institute,  Benton  Harbor.  .  1892 

84.  Ferris  Institute,  Big  Rapids 1894 

85.  Michigan  Business  and  Normal  College,  Battle  Creek.  1896 

86.  International  Business  College,  Saginav/ 1896 

87.  Nazareth  Academy,  Nazareth 1897 

88.  Grand  Rapids  Business  University,  Grand  Rapids. .  .  .  1897 

89.  Fenton  Normal  School  and  Business  College,  Fenton..  1898 

90.  Ludington  Business  College,  Ludington 1898 

91.  Academy  for  Ladies  of  the  Loretto,  Sault  Ste.  Marie.  .  1898 

92.  St.  Mary's  School,  Sault  Ste.  Marie 1898 

93.  Ursuline  Academy,  St.  Ignace 1899 

94.  Benzonia  Academy,  Benzonia 1900 

95.  Jackson  Business  University,  Jackson 1901 

96.  Detroit  University  School,  Detroit 1901 

97.  Holy  Rosary  Academy,  Bay  City 1901 

98.  Cedar  Lake  Academy,  Cedar  Lake 1902 

99.  Parson's  Business  College,  Kalamazoo 1906 

100.  Valley  City  Commercial  School,  Grand  Rapids 1907 

This  list  evidences  the  repeated  attempts  that  were 

made  in  certain  communities  to  secure  a  permanent  and 
successful  school.  It  also  discloses  the  variety  of  titles 
that  were  employed  to  designate  schools  of  the  type  imder 

consideration.  A  third  and  highly  interesting  fact 
deduced  from  the  list  is  the  wonderful  acceleration  of  the 


The  Academy  Movement  i6i 

academy  movement  immediately  following  the  suspension 
of  the  university  branches  in  1847  and  the  gradual 
abatement  of  the  movement  after  the  legal  establishment 
of  public  high  schools  in  1859.  The  period  of  seeming 
depression  between  1850  and  1855  is  explained  by  the 
fact  that  the  revised  constitution  of  the  former  date 
forbade  granting  charters  save  under  the  operation  of  a 
general  law.^  Such  a  law  was  not  enacted  imtil  1855. 
It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  most  of  the  private  institu- 
tions of  the  academy  type  founded  since  1880  have  been 
either  business  schools  or  academic  schools  established 
imder  the  control  of  Catholic  orders. 

As  already  pointed  out,  most  of  these  academical  insti- 
tutions aimed  to  give  an  extended  and  varied  elementary 
and  secondary  course  of  study,  but  with  the  emphasis 
always  upon  the  latter  phase. 

Superintendent  Shearman,  in  his  report  of  1850,  speaks 
of  the  incorporated  schools  thus:  "Several  of  these 
institutions  are  doing  valuable  service  to  the  cause,  not 
only  in  preparing  students  for  the  University,  but  in 
bestowing  the  means  upon  many  of  acquiring  not  only  a 
good,  but  a  classical  education."^ 

While  all  of  these  schools  were  legally  recognized  by 
the  state,  no  financial  aid  was  ever  granted  them.  As 
we  have  seen  in  other  chapters,  provisions  for  education 
in  Michigan — and  for  the  most  part  in  other  states,  too — 
have,  until  a  comparatively  recent  date,  been  incon- 
gruous and  inconsistent  in  the  extreme.  The  laws 
afforded  a  college  or  university  course  free  to  all,  and 
likewise  the  rudiments  of  a  general  elementary  education ; 
but  they  left  a  wide  gap  between  the  two,  over  which 
every  individual  was  forced  to  help  himself  as  best  he 

1  All  the  charters  granted  up  to  185 1  were  granted  by  special  legislative  enact- 
ments. 

2  Joint  Documents,  1850,  No.  6,  p.  11. 

12 


1 62  Public  Secondary  Education 

might.  To  be  sure,  the  Catholepistemiad  had  held  up 
another  ideal,  as  did  also  the  later  state  laws  establishing 
the  university  with  branches.  But  even  in  the  branches, 
education  was  not  free.  Still,  the  tuition  was  nominal. 
When  the  branches  declined,  the  gulf  between  higher 
and  lower  education  was  aggravatingly  apparent — de  jure 
as  well  as  de  facto.  Then  it  was  that  the  academies 
exerted  their  powers  to  bridge  the  chasm,  but  people 
were  not  wholly  satisfied. 

In  general,  the  friends  of  education  in  Michigan  at  this 
time  may  be  divided  into  three  classes.  One  division 
insisted  that  the  constitution  required  the  regents  of  the 
university  to  maintain  the  branches,  and  looked  to  the 
courts  for  the  enforcement  of  the  law.  A  second  party, 
holding  that  the  regents  were  within  their  statutory 
powers,  argued  however  that  justice  to  the  children  of 
the  state,  to  the  university,  and  to  the  academies  them- 
selves demanded  that  the  legislature  should  provide 
financial  support  for  the  private  institutions  that  were 
willing  to  comply  with  certain  fair  legal  requirements. 
The  third  class,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  following  chapter, 
looked  to  the  expansion  and  development  of  the  ele- 
mentary schools  as  the  true  solution.  Their  plan  was 
to  make  these  schools  the  institutions  of  secondary 
training. 

Of  course  there  was  a  fourth  party  that  was  more  or 
less  indifferent  to  the  whole  matter,  and  urged  that  events 
be  left  to  work  themselves  out  as  they  might. 

All  the  superintendents  up  to  1850  hoped  and  advised 
that  the  branches  be  reestablished  and  maintained  by 
the  state.  Superintendent  Mayhew,  however,  in  his  re- 
ports for  1855-57,  urged  upon  the  legislature  the  duty 
of  taking  over  the  various  academies  and  seminaries,  and 
of  subsidizing  them  generously.     But  events  were  opposed 


The  Academy  Movement  163 

to  both  these  plans,  for  by  this  date  the  union  school  had 
conquered.  After  a  last  noble  effort  the  private  secondary 
schools  of  Michigan  gave  up  the  struggle  for  supremacy 
and  slowly  but  surely  were  forced  almost  entirely  out  of 
the  field.  A  few  labored  on,  joined  from  time  to  time  by 
new  recruits  who  seemed  to  think  there  was  a  favorable 
opening  for  a  rehabilitation  of  the  old  form.  Most, 
however,  in  time  ceased  to  exist,  or  were  transformed  into 
colleges,  and  have  continued  more  or  less  successful 
existences  down  to  the  present  day.^ 

While  some  of  the  academical  institutions  were  estab- 
lished by  religious  denominations,  the  majority  seem  to 
have  been  purely  secular  in  natiu^e  and  were  organized 
by  stock  companies.  The  earlier  charters  usually  made 
no  mention  of  the  amount  of  stock  to  be  subscribed,  but 
merely  gave  the  organizers  the  power  to  "acquire,  hold, 
and  convey  property,  real  and  personal."  Later  charters 
contained  clauses  limiting  the  amount  of  the  capital 
stock  and  specifying  the  par  value  of  the  shares.  The 
amount  of  capitalized  stock  varied  with  the  size  of  the 
towns  in  which  the  companies  were  to  operate,  and  with 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  day.  In  the  '40's,  stock  companies, 
capitalized  at  $50,000  or  $25,000,  were  not  uncommon. 
Later,  $10,000  seems  to  have  been  the  more  usual  siun, 
though  instances  of  $5,000  or  even  $1,000  are  not  lacking.^ 
Shares  ranged  in  value  from  $5  to  $50  each.  The  number 
of  trustees  ranged  from  five  to  twenty-one.^ 

In  the  earlier  charters  the  specific  aim  of  the  insti- 
tutions was  not  mentioned  at  all.     Later  charters  contain 

1  Kalamazoo  College  developed  out  of  the  Michigan  and  Huron  Institute  in  1855. 
Spring  Arbor  Academy  was  merged  with  the  Wesleyan  Seminary  and  Female 
College  at  Albion  and  became  Albion  College  in  1861.  Olivet  Institute  became 
Olivet  College  in  1859. 

2  Spring  Arbor  Seminary  in  1835  was  capitalized  at  $30,000;  Marshall  Academy, 
White  Pigeon,  in  1836,  at  $20,000;  tjtica  Female  Academy, in  1844,  at  Js,ooo;  Adrian 
Seminary  in  1846,  Raisin  Institute  in  1847,  and  Howell  Academy  in  1848,  each 
at  Sio.ooo;  Clinton  Institute,  1850,  at  $1,000. 

3  Joint  Documents,  1851,  pp.  497  ff. 


1 64  Public  Secondary  Education 

expressions  like  these:  "for  the  instruction  of  young 
persons  in  the  ancient  and  modem  languages,  or  litera- 
tures, and  the  arts  and  sciences";^  "an  institution  of 
learning  for  instruction  of  persons  in  the  various  branches 
of  literature  and  the  arts  and  sciences.  "^ 

The  limits  of  this  work  preclude  the  consideration  of 
any  one  of  these  academies  in  detail.  Still,  some  of  the 
charters  contain  peculiarly  interesting  provisions  which 
help  to  make  clear  the  popular  educational  thought  of 
the  times.  That  the  University  of  Michigan  was  to  be 
considered  the  standardizing  institution  is  evidenced  by 
the  follov/ing  provisions  found  in  the  charters  of  Michigan 
Central  College  and  of  Marshall  College,  respectively. 
One  reads  there:  "The  course  of  study  pursued  in  said 
college  shall  be  in  all  respects  as  comprehensive  and 
thorough  as  that  required  or  which  shall  hereafter  be 
required  in  the  University  of  Michigan."^  Also:  "The 
primary  degrees  shall  not  be  conferred  on  any  students 
who  shall  not  have  passed  through  a  course  of  studies, 
similar  or  equivalent  to,  and  at  least  as  thorough  as  that 
prescribed  by  the  regents  of  the  University  for  candidates 
for  like  degrees."^ 

We  also  find  several  interesting  provisions  respecting 
religion.  Section  lo  of  the  charter  of  Marshall  College 
reads:  "No  religious  test  whatever  shall  be  required 
from  any  stockholder,  trustee,  teacher,  or  pupil,  nor  shall 
the  tenets  of  any  particular  religious  denomination  be 
inculcated  in  said  academy."^ 

And  again:     "No  person  shall  be  excluded  from  any 

1  Found  in  section  2  of  the  charter  of  Leoni  Seminary  in  1848.  Also  found  in  the 
charter  of  Olivet  Institute,  and  others. 

2  Found  in  section  2  of  the  charter  for  Tecumseh  Institute  in  1849. 

3  Section  14  of  an  act  amendatory  to  the  act  chartering  Michigan  Central  College, 
1850.     (Joint  Documents,  1851,  No.  121,  p.  500.) 

4  Found  in  section  9  of  act  incorporating  Marshall  College,  1839.  {Joint 
Documents,  1851,  No.  60,  p.  51 1.) 

5  Incorporating  act.     (See  Report,  I8S2,  p.  499.  sec.  10.) 


The  Academy  Movement  165 

privilege,  immunity,  or  situation  in  said  college  on  account 
of  his  religious  opinions,  provided  he  demean  himself  in 
a  sober,  peaceable,  and  orderly  manner  and  conform  to 
the  rules  and  regulations  thereof."^ 

With  respect  to  the  chartered  Catholic  institutions, 
several  seemingly  strange  provisions  are  found.  The 
charter  of  St.  Philip's  College  at  Detroit  was  made  out 
to  a  single  person,  namely,  "the  Bishop  of  Detroit  and 
his  successors  in  said  office  of  Bishop  of  Detroit  duly 
appointed  by  the  See  at  Rome."^ 

The  charter  granted  to  St.  Mary's  Academy  (Catholic) 
at  Bertrand  declared  that  "said  corporation  shall  not 
hold  any  real  estate  more  than  five  years  after  they  shall 
have  become  owners  of  the  same,  except  such  real  estate 
as  shall  be  necessary  for  the  objects  of  the  corporation." 
Again:  "The  amount  of  real  and  personal  property 
which  said  corporation  may  hold  shall  not  at  any  time 
exceed  $50,000."  Still  again:  "No  deed  or  devise  of 
land  made  to  said  corporation  by  any  person  or  persons 
during  his  or  her  last  sickness  shall  be  valid.  "^ 

One  sees  in  these  provisions  an  effort  to  prevent  any 
educational  or  religious  corporation  from  securing  and 
holding  enormous  properties  that  should  be  exempt  from 
state  taxation.^  The  restrictions  did  not  apply  to  Cath- 
olic institutions  alone.  Provisions  similar  to  the  above 
are  found  in  many  other  charters,  especially  in  those 
granted  to  literary  associations  whose  aim  was  not 
avowedly  to  serve  the  entire  public. 

The  charter  of  the  Woodstock  Manual  Labor  Institute 

1  Section  4  of  incorporating  act  of  Michigan  Central  College  in  1845.  {Joint 
Documents,  185 1,  No.  32,  p.  499.) 

2  Section  i  of  incorporating  law.     (Joint  Documents,  1831,  p.  SI3-) 

3  Sentences  taken  from  section  I  of  the  incorporating  act.  (Joint  Documents, 
i8si.  p.  538.) 

4  St.  Mary's  Academy  was  later  moved  two  or  three  miles  southward  across  the 
line  into  Indiana,  where  apparently  less  restrictive  laws  prevailed.  It  is  now  one 
of  the  most  notable  and  wealthy  Catholic  schools  in  the  country,  and  has  large 
real-estate  holdings. 


1 66  Public  Secondary  Education 

contains  this  statement  of  aim:  it  is  "for  instruction  of 
persons  of  color,  and  others,  in  ancient  and  modem 
languages  or  hteratures,  and  arts  and  sciences."^  This 
is  the  only  school  I  find  that  expressly  includes  in  its 
aim  the  intention  to  give  instruction  to  negroes.  The 
institution,  however,  was  short  lived. 

The  incorporating  act  of  the  Oakland  Female  Seminary, 
1849,  declares  that  "no  male  teacher  shall  at  any  time 
hereafter  forever  be  employed  in  the  seminary  hereby 
incorporated.  "2  This  school  seems  not  to  have  had  a 
long  existence  either. 

Like  their  predecessors — the  academies  of  the  eighteenth 
century — these  quasi-public  institutions  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  (when  they  succeeded  at  all)  exerted  a  re- 
markable influence  on  the  life  of  the  communities  in  which 
they  were  located.  They  were,  to  a  large  degree,  truly 
people's  colleges.  In  them  youths  of  scant  financial  means 
secured  a  fairly  extensive  and  thorough  literary  training.' 
They  also  received  here  what  is  of  even  more  value  — 
a  groimding  in  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  ethical, 
religious,  and  social  sides  of  life.  In  these  schools  the 
youths  mingled  on  an  equal  footing  with  their  fellows. 
The  training  received  in  them  made  for  social  leadership 
and  social  betterment.  In  the  truest  sense,  these  schools 
were  schools  of  social  democracy. 

Nevertheless,  they  were  select  schools.  After  all,  only 
the  few  attended  them,  and  these  few  were  apt  to  be  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  the  more  prosperous  citizens,  or  were 
young  men  and   yoimg  women  who  by  temperament, 

1  Section  2,  Joint  Documents,  1851,  No.  42,  p.  530. 

2  Section  9,  Joint  Documents,  1851,  No.  168,  p.  532. 

3  I  am  unable  to  find  an  account  of  the  average  expenses  of  a  youth  in  one  of  these 
academies.  President  Fairfield  of  Hillsdale  College  reported  in  185S  that  the 
annual  expenses  there  were  as  follows:  tuition,  $20;  room  rent,  $6  to  lo  per  year; 
incidental  expenses  $2  to  S3  per  year;  board  in  College  Hall,  $1.50  per  week  (with 
tea  and  coffee,  5i. 75) ;  board  m  private  families  (room,  furniture,  and  fuel  included), 
$2  per  week.  This  would  have  equaled  between  ISs.and  $95  per  year.  The 
expenses  in  the  academies  could  not  have  been  much  different. 


The  Academy  Movement  167 

nature,  and  ambition  belonged  to  the  superior  ranks. 
Hence,  like  the  branches  and  the  old-time  Latin  school, 
the  academies  had  their  enemies,  who  charged  them  with 
being  exclusive,  snobbish,  and  undemocratic  institutions, 
and  sought  their  overthrow. 

This  hostile  attitude  on  the  part  of  many,  coupled  with 
other  circumstances,  doubtless  accounts  in  large  measure 
for  the  shifting  fortunes  experienced  by  so  many  of 
these  schools,  and  finally  for  their  gradual  disappear- 
ance. There  are  snobs  in  Michigan,  but  the  people  as 
a  whole  are  intensely  democratic,  and  hate  any  contrary 
pretense.       *" 

Discipline  in  these  academical  schools  was  not  severe, 
but  it  was  expected  to  be  sufficiently  rigid  to  check  evil 
temptations  and  to  inculcate  a  wholesome  respect  for 
law,  for  the  social  proprieties,  and  for  individual  tastes. 
The  schools  were  usually  sufficiently  small  to  enable  the 
students  to  come  into  immediate  personal  contact  with 
the  teachers,^  and  most  of  these,  we  must  believe,  were 
men  and  women  of  noble  ideals  and  gentle  manners.  One  v 
of  the  most  enjoyable  and  beneficial  practices  found 
in  many  schools  was  the  weekly,  or  daily,  hour  devoted  to 
"General  Exercises,"  when  questions  of  vital  importance 
to  morals,  manners,  faith,  and  knowledge  were  discussed 
by  the  principal  before  the  entire  assembled  school. 
Not  infrequenily  this  hour  was  devoted  to  opening  the 
"question  box"  and  to  discussing  in  a  frank,  sympathetic, 
and  fluent  way  any  pertinent  questions  that  might  have 
been  asked  by  the  students.^  By  many,  the  principal's 
views  were  regarded  as  spoken  ex  cathedra. 

The  school  buildings  were  usually  situated  on  the  most 

1  For  example,  Clinton  Institute  in  1850  had  75  students  and  three  teachers. 
(Report,  1851,  p.  75.)  Olivet  had  about  95  students,  with  five  instructors,  and 
Vermontville,  in  1862,  had  38  students  with  two  instructors.     (Report,  1853,  p.  182.) 

2  Mention  is  made  of  this  practice  in  an  article  by  M.  D.  Osband  in  Michigan 
Pioneer  Collections,  Vol.  18,  p.  657. 


1 68  Public  Secondary  Education 

sightly  spot  in  the  town,  and  were  surrounded  by  spacious 
grounds  covered  over  with  the  shade  of  a  natural  grove. 
Here  is  the  beginning  of  attention  to  the  aesthetic  side 
of  school  training. 

The  program  of  studies  not  infrequently  was  drawn  to 
include  elementary  instruction  in  the  English  language, 
and  advanced  subjects  which  might  or  might  not  include 
the  classics.  The  emphasis,  however,  was  always  laid 
upon  the  post-elementary  instruction.  This  was  real 
secondary  work,  and  was  the  true  ideal  the  academy  set 
for  itself.  All  instruction  that  was  offered  as  preparatory 
to  this  was  given  to  accommodate  older  students  whose 
early  advantages  had  been  limited.  However,  many 
schools  offered  no  elementary,   preparatory  course. 

As  a  rule  the  academy  period  proper  extended  over 
three  years  divided  into  three  terms  of  thirteen,  fourteen, 
or  fifteen  weeks  each.  The  subject-matter  was  arranged 
in  "departments."  For  example,  the  Wesleyan  Semi- 
nary, in  its  report  for  185 1,  stated  that  the  "  Departments 
in  this  institution  consist  of  the  following  branches  of 
study,  viz.:  (i)  Moral  and  Intellectual  Science;  (2) 
Natural  Science;  (3)  Ancient  Language  and  Elocution; 
(4)  Mathematics;  (5)  Modem  Language;  (6)  Belles 
Lettres;  (7)  Primary  English  Literature,  and  (8)  Fine 
Arts."i 

Tuition  charges  depended  upon  the  work  taken.  For 
illustration,  in  1850,  Clinton  Institute,  Mt.  Clemens, 
published  the  following  announcement  of  fees  for  the 
quarter  of  eleven  weeks : 

For  Elementary  Branches $  3  00 

For  Common  English  Branches 4 .  00 

For  Higher  English  Branches 5.00 

For  Latin,  Greek,  and  French 6 .  00 

For  Music 8.00 

1  Superintendent's  Report,  1831,  p.  67- 


The  Academy  Movement  169 

Naturally  the  programs  of  study  differed  somewhat 
with  different  institutions.  Still,  since  the  ideals  were 
nearly  the  same,  the  work  offered  was  similar.  The 
courses  were  regulated  by  the  popular  demands,  which 
in  turn  varied  with  the  traditions  and  ambitions  of  the 
institution  itself  and  of  the  community  it  was  designed 
to  serve.     One  program  m^ust  suffice  as  an  illustration. 

In  1856   Wesley  an  Seminary  offered   the  following:^ 

First  Term 
Mental  Arithmetic;  Elocution;  Rhetoric;  Geometry,  begun;  Geog- 
raphy of  the  Heavens;  Bookkeeping;  Botany;  Political  Economy; 
Astronomy;  Governmental  Instructor.  2 

Second  Term 

English  Composition;  Analj^sis  of  Words;  Ancient  Geography; 
Universal  History;  Geometry,  completed;  Trigonometry;  Mental 
Philosophy;  Elements  of  Criticism;  Evidences  of  Christianity; 
Natural  Theology. 

Third  Term 

Modern  Geography;  History  of  the  United  States;  Survey- 
ing and  Navigation;  Mental  Philosophy;  Logic;  Agricultural 
Chemistry;  Animal  Chemistry;  Analogy  of  Religion;  Geology; 
Mineralogy. 

Every  Term 

EngHsh  Grammar;  Analysis  of  Language;  Written  Arithmetic; 
Higher  Arithemetic;  Elementary  Algebra;  Higher  Algebra; 
Anatomy  and  Physiology;  Natural  Philosophy;  Chemistry; 
Drawing,  Painting,  Music;    Greek,    Latin,   French,  and  German. 

One  readily  observes  from  this  program  that  the  old, 
iron-clad,  restrictive  classical  course  has  completely 
broken  down  and  disappeared.     The  classics  are  offered 

1  President's  report  found  in  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
1855-57,  P-  411-  At  this  date  the  seminary  enrolled  235  students.  Above  the 
seminary,  and  influencnig  it.  was  the  female  college.  This  fact  doubtless  accounts 
for  the  variety  and  richness  of  program  found  here.  Surely  few  of  the  smaller 
academies  could  parallel  it. 

2  This  last  1  take  to  mean  to  indicate  a  handbook  in  civics,  the  president 
apparently  naming  the  textbook  in  lieu  of  describing  the  course  offered. 


lyo  Public  Secondary  Ediication 

for  those  who  desire  to  pursue  them,  but  they  here  take 
theu-  place  on  a  parity  with  the  other  subjects — neither 
above  nor  below  them.  Modern  languages  have  also 
come  into  full  recognition.  In  place  of  a  few  subjects 
of  study  pursued  for  a  long  time  the  poHcy  is  here  reversed. 
Here  is  an  extensive  and  rich  menu,  offered,  however,  in 
small  quantities.  The  student  perforce  came  out  of  the 
seminary  knowing  a  little  about  many  things  and  not 
much  about  any  one.  The  age  of  specialization  for  every 
individual — even  before  he  passed  out  of  the  field  of 
secondary  education — had  not  yet  arrived. 

Naturally,  in  this  period  of  particularism,  the  textbooks 
in  use  varied  greatly.  Still,  a  few  standard  books  are 
found  in  nearly  every  school.  Among  the  familiar  ones 
may  be  mentioned:  Wayland's  texts  on  Moral  and 
Mental  Philosophy;  Paley's  Evidences  of  Christianity, 
and  his  Natural  Theology;  Butler's  Analogy;  Packer's 
Natural  Philosophy;  Davies'  mathematical  series;  New- 
man's Rlietoric;  Agassiz's  Zoology;  and  Fasquelle's  French 
text. 

As  an  indication  of  the  popularity  of  the  various  sub- 
jects, the  following  list  of  students'  elections  may  be 
valuable.  In  the  Young  Ladies'  Seminary  at  Monroe, 
the  president  reports,  for  the  year  1850:  ^  "The  pupils 
have  pursued  the  following  studies:  Latin,  12;  French,  9; 
Instrumental  Music,  17;  Drawing,  34;  Vocal  Music,  the 
entire  school;^  Algebra,  58;  Geometry,  9;  Chemistry,  15; 
Natural  Philosophy,  25;  Moral  Science,  4;  Physiology 
and  Anatomy,  34;  Arithmetic,  123;  Astronomy,  20; 
Geology,  9;  Grammar,  94." 

From  the  foregoing  list,  as  well  as  from  other  data  we 
have  considered  in  this  chapter,  it  is  clearly  manifest 

1  Report  of  Public  Instruction,  1850,  p.  79- 

2  The  school  enrolled  at  this  time,  about  125. 


The  Academy  Movement  171 

that  the  "elective  system"  of  studies,  in  fact  if  not  in 
name,  was  in  full  operation  in  many  if  not  all  of  the 
academical  institutions  of  the  state  even  before  the  middle 
of  the  last  century.  Students  who  expected  to  be  gradu- 
ated were,  it  is  true,  required  to  pursue  a  rather  definite 
course  of  studies.  Those,  however,  who  had  only  a 
limited  time  at  their  disposal  were  frequently  allowed  to 
take  up  the  subjects  for  which  they  were  fitted,  and  for 
which  they  had  an  especial  desire. 

Very  naturally,  then,  we  shall  find  that  these  institu- 
tions set  the  standards  and  furnished  the  ideals  and  the 
models  for  the  public  high  schools  that  were  just  then 
arising.  An  enriched  curriculum,  a  flexible  curriculum, 
a  more  or  less  "practical"  ctirriculimi,  became  the  rule. 
If  there  was  not  always  free  choice  for  the  pupil,  there 
were  at  least  two  separate  and  distinct  curricula  open  for 
his  election  —  the  Classical  and  the  English.  Sometimes 
a  third,  styled  the  Modem  Language  Course,  was  offered. 
All  these  were  carried  over  into  the  high  school. 

The  academies  likewise  bequeathed  the  example  of 
coeducation,  if  not  in  all,  at  least  in  many  of  their 
institutions.  This  practice,  too,  became  the  natural  and 
imconscious  ideal  of  the  evolving  high  schools.  We 
shall   trace   the   details   later. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

The  Rise  and  Development  of  the  Union  Schools 

THE  third  channel  through  which  secondary  education 
in  Michigan  was  moving  during  the  twenty  years 
preceding  i860  was  that  of  the  union  schools.  In  fact, 
it  is  from  these  that  the  present-day  high  schools  take 
their  immediate  rise  and  their  distinctive  form.  While 
the  branches  of  the  university  and  the  private  and  denomi- 
national academies  and  seminaries  contributed  much  of 
the  spirit  and  not  a  little  of  the  internal  workings  and 
methods  of  the  high  schools,  the  external  shape,  the  admin- 
istration, and  the  financial  support  of  these  have  been 
evolved  almost  wholly  from  the  operation  of  principles 
that  tmderlay  and  produced  the  union  schools.  Indeed, 
in  many  towns  and  villages  in  Michigan  to-day  the  local 
high  school  is  still  recognized  and  spoken  of  as  the  "Union 
School" — what  was  originally  only  a  department  of  the 
school  having  assiuned  to  itself  the  name  and  essence  of 
the  whole. ^ 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  period  between  1840 
and  i860  was  one  of  hesitancy  and  halting  in  matters  of 
secondary  education  in  Michigan.  Indeed,  there  was 
no  definite  settled  state  poHcy  respecting  the  question 
tmtil  about  the  latter  date.  One  party  or  faction  had 
set  up  one  ideal,  and  another,  another.  Each  sought, 
by  proselyting,  to  rally  to  its  support  sufficient  strength 
to  carry  through  its  program. 

Meantime  the  legislature  assumed  a  more  or  less 
neutral  attitude  and  waited  to  be  guided  by  the  survival 

1 1  have  frequently,  in  my  visits  through  Michigan,  heard  the  high  school  thus 
designated. 

172 


The  Rise  and  Development  of  the  Union  Schools    173 

of  the  fittest.  Of  course,  educational  statutes  were  en- 
acted, but  few  or  none  of  them  were  drastic  in  their 
requirements  or  partial  in  their  principles.  The  repre- 
sentatives of  each  school  party  received  some  recognition. 

Nevertheless,  the  legislature  on  the  whole  assumed  a 
laissez  /aire  demeanor.  It  refused  to  appropriate  addi- 
tional money  for  the  maintenance  of  the  branches;  it 
refused  to  subsidize  the  private  schools  and  academies; 
and  it  refused  to  make  provision  for  secondary  education, 
directly,  in  any  other  way.  But,  meanwhile,  the  popular 
demand,  silently  expressed,  was  steadily  making  for  free, 
secular,  state-supported  secondary  schools.  When  this 
quiet  growth  had  assumed  proportions  that  were  irre- 
sistible, the  legislature  and  the  courts  came  to  its  support 
with  specific  legal  aids. 

In  an  earlier  chapter  we  have  seen  that  the  state 
constitution  declared  for  a  system  of  primary  schools 
to  be  kept  up  in  every  district  for  a  minimum  period  each 
year,  and  to  be  supported,  in  part  at  least,  out  of  the  public 
treasury.  We  have  also  called  attention  to  the  confusion 
that  arose  respecting  the  school  lands  and  the  Primary 
School  Fund,  and  to  the  abuses  that  followed  the  rise 
of  the  spirit  of  excessive  democratization  that  reached 
its  height  in  the  fourth  decade  of  the  past  century. 
So-  far  as  this  last  factor  bore  on  education,  its  most 
serious  and  evil  effect  was  the  establishment  of  the  pubhc- 
school  system  with  the  small,  independent  school  district 
as  the  imit.  So  distrustfiil  were  the  people  of  that 
generation  of  anything  bordering  on  the  centralization 
of  power,  and  so  opposed  were  the  settlers  of  Michigan, 
in  particular,  to  the  perpetuation  of  the  earlier  French 
ideas,  that  any  thought  or  plan  of  building  a  school 
system  on  the  township  basis  was  easily  and  successfully 
opposed.     Hence   Michigan   was,   and   in   part   is   yet, 


174  Public  Secondary  Education 

bound  to  a  system  that  has  been  very  retarding,  to  say 
the  least,  in  its  effects. 

The  sparseness  of  population  in  Michigan  up  to  1840 
made  the  district  system  less  irritatingly  felt  than  it 
might  otherwise  have  been.^  Still,  especially  in  the 
larger  tovms,  the  plan  was  not  working  well.  For 
example,  at  this  time  Detroit,  with  a  population  of  ten 
thousand,  was  spUt  into  eight  separate  and  distinct  dis- 
tricts, each  with  its  district  school  and  its  district  school 
officers.2  The  condition  was  fast  becoming  intolerable. 
In  1842,  therefore,  the  legislature  came  to  the  relief  of  the 
city  by  enacting  a  law  consoHdating  the  various  dis- 
tricts of  Detroit  and  providing  for  one  school  authority 
over  all.^ 

This  act  marks  the  first  effective  step  toward  modi- 
fying the  district-school  plan.  For  the  first  time  in  the 
state  an  incorporated  city  or  town  was  made  the  imit 
for  the  local  administration  of  schools.  Still,  Detroit 
did  not  at  once  establish  a  union  school  with  an  aca- 
demical department.  In  this  respect  she  was  beaten  by 
several  other  towns.  Detroit's  academical  department 
was  not  created  until  1848.* 

Meanwhile,  throughout  the  state,  demands  were  being 
made  for  similar  legislation  that  would  permit  the  estab- 
lishment of  imion-school  districts  in  the  larger  towns. 

1  The  population  of  the  state  in  1840  was  212,267.  In  1838  there  were  only  two 
chartered  cities  —  Detroit  and  Monroe — and  twenty-three  incorporated  villages 
and  towns.     (Farmer's  History  of  Detroit,  pp.  740  ff.) 

2  Ibid.,  p.  743. 

3  This  act,  approved  February  17.  1842,  provided  that  henceforth  "all  schools 
organized  therein  (Detroit),  in  pursuance  of  this  act  shall,  under  the  direction  and 
regulation  of  the  Board  of  Education,  be  public  and  free  to  all  children  residing 
within  the  limits  thereof,  between  the  ages  of  five  and  seventeen  inclusive."  It 
provided  tor  the  election  of  twelve  school  inspectors  (two  from  each  ward)  who, 
together  with  the  mayor  and  the  recorder,  were  to  constitute  the  Board  of  Education 
for  the  entire  city.  The  same  law  authorized  the  common  council  of  Detroit  to 
assess  and  levy  each  year  for  school  purposes  a  tax  upon  all  real  and  personal 
property  in  the  city  up  to  the  amount  of  one  dollar  per  child  of  school  age.  {Joint 
Documents,  1851,  No.  70  p.  49i-)  ,„        • 

4  At  first  there  were  two  grades  —  a  primary  and  a  middle  —  m  each  ward. 
Later  there  were  six  primary  and  three  middle  in  the  whole  city.  In  1848  there  were 
thirteen  primary  and  four  middle  schools.     (Farmer's  History  of  Detroit,  p.  743-) 


The  Rise  atid  Development  oj  the  Union  Schools    175 

What  was  good  for  Detroit  was  likewise  good,  it  was 
argued,  for  all  villages  and  towns  of  any  considerable 
size.  Not  only  would  a  single  district  with  a  single  school 
and  a  single  set  of  officers  be  vastly  more  economical  to 
the  people  of  the  community,  but  it  would  permit  the 
carrying  on  of  a  school  vastly  more  efficient.  In  a  union 
district  better  salaries  could  be  paid,  better  teachers 
secured,  and  enthusiasm  of  numbers  could  be  generated. 
The  imion  school  would  also  permit  the  grading  of  pupils 
according  to  their  attainments,  and  thus  bring  greater 
zest  and  emulation  into  the  classroom,  where  all  would 
be  nearly  equal. 

Grading  would  also  permit  organizing  the  work  on  the 
departmental  plan,  and  would  thus  enable  teachers  to 
devote  their  time  to  the  particular  subjects  for  which 
they  were  best  prepared,  and  for  which  they  had  a  natiu-al 
aptitude. 

These  were  the  arguments  laid  before  the  legislature 
by  the  friends  of  the  imion  schools. 

In  response  to  this  appeal  the  legislature  in  1843 
enacted  another  law  which  gave  to  the  local  officers  per- 
missive authority  to  organize  imion  schools  anywhere. 
The  important  sections  of  that  law  read  as  follows:^ 

"Whenever  the  board  of  inspectors  of  any  township 
shall  deem  that  the  interests  of  any  of  the  schools  will  be 
best  promoted  by  so  doing,  they  may  form  a  single  dis- 
trict out  of  any  two  or  more  districts  therein  and  classify 
the  pupils  in  such  districts  into  two  or  more  classes, 
according  to  their  proficiency  and  advancement  in  learn- 
ing, and  require  that  such  pupils  be  taught  in  distinct 
schools  or  departments  as  classified  by  them;  and  such 
district  may  have  the  same  number  of  schoolhouses,  if 

1  These  are  sections  92  and  93  of  the  compiled  laws  of  1846.  See  Joint  Docu- 
ments, 1851,  p.  397. 


176  Public  Secondary  Education 

necessary,  and  raise  the  same  amount  of  taxes  which 
the  original  districts  forming  the  same  could  raise  if  not 
tmited." 

The  inspectors  were  also  authorized  "on  the  appli- 
cation of  the  district  board  of  any  district,  to  classify 
the  pupils  therein  in  the  manner  prescribed  in  the  pre- 
ceding section,  and  require  that  such  pupils  be  taught 
in  distinct  departments,  whenever  they  shall  judge  that 
the  interest  of  the  school  will  be  best  promoted  thereby."  ^ 

Amendments  to  this  law  in  the  next  year  or  so  author- 
ized any  district  having  more  than  a  himdred  pupils  of 
school  age  ^  to  enlarge  its  board  of  trustees  to  seven  mem- 
bers, provided  two-thirds  of  the  voters  at  any  annual 
meeting  so  decided.  The  district  board  was  also  given 
power  to  "graduate  the  price  of  tuition  according  to  the 
studies  pursued  by  the  scholars  respectively."  ^ 

From  the  above  sections  it  is  to  be  observed  that,  while 
graded  schools  are  here  provided,  they  are  in  no  sense  free 
public  schools.  A  tuition  or  "rate"  was  authorized  in 
every  district*  to  be  collected  from  the  residents  of  the 
district,  as  well  as  from  the  non-resident  students  attend- 
ing that  school.  Nothing,  however,  is  stated  in  the  law 
respecting  the  scope  of  the  work  to  be  offered  in  these 
schools.     That  was  left  wholly  to  local  settlement. 

Under  the  original  law  some  little  advance  apparently 
was  made  by  the  more  progressive  inspectors,  but  no 
really  full-fledged  graded  school  issued.  Superintendent 
Comstock,  through  his  reports  of  1844  and  1845,  gave 
his  support  to  the  movement  and  urged  immediate  action 
by  the  different  towns.  "The  consoHdation  of  districts 
in  our  cities  and  rising  villages  is  highly  desirable."  said 

1  Section  93  of  the  same  compiled  laws. 

2  The  school  age  was  now  from  four  to  eighteen. 
^Amendment  to  Section  93.     (See  Joint  Documents,  1851,  p.  398.) 

*  Detroit  was  exempt  from  this  law.     Her  schools  were  free  by  the  law  of  1842. 


The  Rise  and  Development  of  the  Union  Schools     177 

he  in  his  report  of  1845.^  "These  graduated  schools," 
he  continued,  "would  obviate  the  necessity  of  select 
seminaries.  Education  obtained  in  these  is  always  more 
expensive  than  it  would  be  if  imparted  in  the  graduated 
school  .  .  .  The  necessity  of  select  schools  is  founded 
in  the  imperfect  character  of  the  primary  schools.  Ele- 
vate these,  and  the  select  schools  will  be  superseded." 

This  quotation  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  which  party 
Mr.  Comstock  favored  in  the  three-cornered  fight  for 
control  of  the  secondary  schools  of  Michigan. 

In  a  similar  way,  Superintendent  Mayhew,  in  his 
report  for  1848,  urges  upon  boards  the  desirability  of 
organizing  their  schools  under  the  provisions  of  the 
revised  law.  "A  considerable  number  of  districts  have 
already  availed  themselves  of  this  provision,"  said  he, 
"and  several  large  and  commodious  Union  School  houses 
have  been  built  in  which  schools  are  in  successful  opera- 
tion. Other  similar  houses  are  now  in  process  of  erection 
and  taxes  have  been  voted  in  other  cases  with  reference 
to  building  another  season."  "In  that  school  [that  is, 
the  imion  school]  are  combined  all  the  advantages  of  the 
well  conducted  common  school,  the  academy  for  yoimg 
gentlemen  and  the  seminary  for  young  ladies.  Children 
may  there  commence  v/ith  the  alphabet  and  pass  from 
one  grade  to  another  until,  on  leaving  the  school,  they  are 
prepared  to  enter  an}^  college  or  University  in  the  United 
States."  "Union  schools  should  be  established  at  the 
earliest  practicable  period,  in  every  county  of  this  state, 
and  in  all  the  principal  villages,  in  which  students  may 
qualify  themselves  for  the  University.  Union  schools 
constitute  the  only  reliable  connecting  link  between  the 
primary  school  and  the  State  University. "  ^ 

1  Joint  Documents,  1851,  p.  457. 

2  Report  of  1848,  Joint  Documents,  i8si,  p.  458. 

13 


178  Piiblic  Secondary  Education 

Mr.  Mayhew  then  adds  a  list  of  the  advantages  such 
schools  possess.  I  content  myself  with  merely  giving  his 
main  headings  without  his  detailed  arguments.    These  are : 

1.  They  are  open  to  all  and  embrace  a  more  extensive  and  com- 

plete course  of  study  than  otherwise  would  be  practicable. 

2.  They  may  be  made  better  than  either  the  common  or  the 

select  schools. 

3.  They  are  cheaper  than  any  other  schools. 

4.  They  are  democratic  institutions. 

5.  They  afford  a  good  substitute  for  normal  schools  or  teachers' 

seminaries. 

6.  They  perform  the  office  of  a  preparatory  school  for  colleges. 

Although  Mr.  Mayhew  was  ambitious  to  see  these 
schools  made  preparatory  schools  for  colleges  and  the 
universities,  apparently,  at  the  time  he  wrote,  this  view 
was  shared  by  few.  Rather,  the  union  school  was  gen- 
erally expected  to  take  the  place  of  the  local  academy 
and  to  give  the  youth  of  the  neighborhood  a  good  foun- 
dation in  the  elementary  and  secondary  subjects  that 
would  fit  them  for  their  places  in  the  active  affairs  of  the 
community,  and  would  train  them  in  moral,  religious,  and 
social  principles. 

Probably  the  first  village  to  organize  a  union  school 
under  the  law  of  1843  was  Jonesville,  in  1845,  though  the 
school  was  not  opened  and  in  operation  imtil  two  or  three 
years  later.  From  this  date  the  more  important  towns  of 
the  state,  one  by  one,  took  the  advanced  step  and  con- 
verted their  ungraded  schools  into  union  or  graded  schools. 

There  was,  of  course,  at  this  time,  no  fixed  or  ideal 
standard  to  which  the  various  schools  sought  to  approxi- 
mate themselves.  Each  community  went  its  own  way 
and  established  a  school  that  seemed  good  in  its  own  eyes 
and  adapted  to  the  local  needs.  Nevertheless,  the  dif- 
ferences of  a  homogeneous  people  are  usually  more 
superficial  than  real.     There  was,  therefore,  ahnost  of 


The  Rise  and  Development  of  the  Union  Schools    179 

necessity,  a  close  agreement  among  all  these  schools, —  in 
aim,  organization,  administration,  programs  of  study, 
equipment,  textbooks,  internal  workings,  methods,  and 
results.  Obviously,  in  a  book  of  this  kind,  it  is  impos- 
sible and  imdesirable  to  deal,  in  a  detailed  way,  with 
the  characteristics  of  any  one  school.  We  shall  have 
to  content  ourselves  with  deducing  general  principles  and 
illustrating  these  with  a  few  concrete  facts. 

Almost  all  these  union  schools  were  organized  into  two, 
three,  four,  or  five  different  departments  under  different 
names.  The  program  of  studies  ranged  from  the  merest 
elements  of  knowledge  up  to,  and  including,  subjects 
now  found  only  in  the  colleges  and  universities.  Hence 
the  divisions  or  departments  were  given  names  suggestive 
of  the  grade  of  work  included.  The  earlier  schools 
usually  had  four  departments,  though  sometimes  five. 
The  later  more  commonly  classified  the  work  into  three 
divisions.  All  had  a  primary  department,  and  many  had 
an  academical  department.  Between  these  two  extremes 
were  found  the  secondary,  the  intermediate,  and  the  gram- 
mar departments,  and  other  designated  departments.' 

In  some  schools  the  academical  department  was  made 
to  include  the  grammar  department  and  the  high  school. 
The  full  course  in  the  perfectly  organized  schools  was 
usually  eleven  or  twelve  years  in  length,  three  years 
being  devoted  to  each  of  the  four  common  departments: 
primary,  intermediate,  grammar,  and  higher  depart- 
ments. Later  it  was  more  usual  to  find  the  primary, 
grammar,  and  high  departments,  with  four  years  devoted 
to  each. 

1  The  following  illustrations  will  show  the  variety  of  usage:  (a)  Jonesville  had 
primary,  secondary,  grammar,  and  higher  departments;  (b)  Monroe  had  the  same 
designations;  (c)  Niles  had  ist  primary,  2d  primary,  intermediate,  grammar,  and 
high;  (a!)  Plymouth  had  ist  department,  2d  department,  and  3d  department; 
(e)  St.  Clair  had  primary,  secondary,  intermediate,  and  higher;  (J)  Sturgis  had 
primary,  secondary,  third  department,  and  high  school;  (g)  Ypsilanti  had  primary, 
secondary,  grammar,  and  academical. 


I  So  Public  Secondary  Education 

The  year  was  divided  into  three  or  four  terms  and  con- 
sisted usually  of  forty  or  more  weeks.^  The  school  day 
was  ordinarily  six  hours  in  length,  but  there  was  no 
uniformity  as  to  just  what  six  hours.^  At  the  outset 
there  was  usually  but  one  school  building  in  the  town, 
and  this  accommodated  all  grades.^  As  the  town  grew 
the  main  or  luiion  school  building  continued  to  be  used 
for  the  upper  departments,  and  ward  buildings  were 
erected  for  the  primary  departments.  As  the  union 
school  building  became  more  and  more  overcrowded,  one 
grade  after  another  was  forced  out  and  was  quartered 
in  the  ward  buildings,  until,  in  time,  by  this  process  of 
division,  the  union  building  was  often  given  over  entirely 
to  the  academical  or  high-school  department. 

Up  to  1856,  however,  and  perhaps  later,  there  was  in 
Michigan  no  true  high  school  in  the  sense  of  an  institution 
of  secondary  learning  set  apart  from  the  middle  or  grade 
school  and  offering  advanced  education  only.*  Indeed, 
the  true  high-school  period  did  not  begin  in  Michigan 
until  the  passage  of  the  law  of  1859. 

Just  as  there  was  a  division  and  a  separation  of  grades 
in  separate  buildings,  so  there  gradually  developed  a 
differentiation  of  fimctions  among  the  teachers.  Before 
the  union-school  era  each  district  had  its  one  teacher  who 
was  administrator,  teacher,  truant  officer,  clerk,  and 
janitor — a  veritable  jack-of-all-trades.  With  the  division 
of  the  school  into  grades  there  was  usually  one  head 
master,  or  principal,  with  one  or  more  teaching  assist- 
ants. With  the  removal  of  the  primary  department  from 
the  main  bmlding  there  arose  the  office  (though  for  a 

1  Of  the  twenty-seven  schools  reporting  in  1859,  fourteen  had  40  weeks  of  school; 
one  had  41;  eight  had  42;  one  had  43;  and  two  had  44.  One  only  had  fewer  than 
40  weeks.  This  was  Cassopolis,  with  36.  (See  Report  of  Public  Instruction,  1859, 
p.  234-) 

2  Report  of  Detroit  School.     (Report,  1850,  p.  156.) 

3  Exception  must  of  course  be  made  of  the  larger  towns. 
*  Report,  1855-57.  p.  52. 


The  Rise  and  Development  of  the  Union  Schools     i8i 

time,  to  be  sure,  unrecognized  by  title)  of  superintendent. 
This  function  still  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  head  of  the  aca- 
demical department,  who  at  first  was  designated  "Prin- 
cipal of  the  Schools."^  This  process  was  repeated  when 
the  grammar  department  was  set  off  from  the  higher  or 
academical  department,  and  not  infrequently  one  of  the 
assistant  teachers  was  designated  as  assistant  to  the 
principal,  having  charge  of  the  grammar  department. 

As  the  evolution  went  on  the  term  "principal"  came  to 
denote  the  head  master  or  head  mistress  of  any  building  or 
department.  This  practice  then  necessitated  the  employ- 
ment of  a  new  title  to  distinguish  the  highest  adminis- 
trative official  of  the  whole  system,  and  consequently  "^ 
there  arose  the  designation  "Superintendent  of  Schools."        | 

Thus,  here  as  elsewhere  in  modem  life,  a  complexity  of 
duties  led  to  a  division  of  labor,  a  continuous  differen- 
tiation of  function,  and  the  creation  of  a  hierarchy  of 
authority. 

To  meet  the  needs  of  the  new  type  of  schools  most 
towns  and  cities  were  forced  to  erect  new  school  buildings, 
and  these  became  the  pride  and  boast  of  the  community. 
Copied  somewhat  closely  from  the  academies,  these 
structures  occupied  the  choicest  available  plot  of  groimd 
in  the  town,  and,  where  possible,  stood  upon  a  command- 
ing hill  in  the  midst  of  a  natural  grove.  The  first  buildings 
were  often  only  two  stories  in  height ;  the  later  ones  were, 
with  few  exceptions,  three  stories.  Although  land  was 
cheap  and  there  was  an  abundance  of  room  to  build  out 
laterally,  the  architects  of  the  day  would  have  none  of 
that  style.  Two  or  three  flights  of  steep  stairways 
seem  to  have  been  regarded  as  essential  for  any  model 
union-school  building,  and  not  infrequently  one  or  two 

1  Oftentimes,  too,  the  academical  department  was  spoken  of  as  the  principal's 

department. 


1 82  Public  Secondary  Education 

other  flights  led  still  higher  to  the  tower  and  the  belfry. 
Another  usually  led  down  into  a  basement.^  The  record, 
"an  ample  and  spacious  building  60  ft.  long  by  40  ft. 
wide,  and  three  stories  in  height,"  is  a  familiar  one  in  the 
reports  of  these  schools. 

Salaries,  as  one  might  expect,  were  low, —  shamefully 
and  criminally  low.  If  the  total  expense  of  conducting 
the  entire  school  for  a  year  averaged  much  over  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  or  three  himdred  dollars  for  the  teachers 
employed,  the  school  board  was  thought  needlessly 
extravagant.  Here  are  a  few  illustrations  taken  from 
the  reports  of   1859: 

Pay 

$  9  and  $  4  per  week,  respectively 

$    750  per  year,  collectively 

3,370  per  year,  collectively 

750  per  year,  collectively 

740  per  year,  collectively 

960  per  year,  collectively 

2,316  per  year,  collectively 

694  per  year,  collectively 

2,105  per  year,  collectively 

3,500  per  year,  collectively 

5,470  per  year,  collectively 

When  one  recalls  that  the  principal's  salary  was  con- 
siderably larger  than  that  of  his  assistants,  one  can  well 
guess  how  slimly  these  latter  fared.  Indeed,  a  salary  of 
one  hundred  seventy-five  to  two  htmdred  dollars  for 
a  primary  teacher,  and  two  hundred  to  three  hundred 

1  There  are  several  of  these  old  union-school  buildings  still  standing  throughout 
the  state,  and  the  material  conditions  in  some  are  as  bad  as  the  above  statement 
would  indicate.  The  author  recalls  a  visit  to  one  such  school  two  or  three  years 
ago  in  which  the  high-school  students  occupied  the  third  floor,  seventy-two  steps 
above  the  ground.  Besides  being  forced  to  ascend  and  descend  these  stairs  four 
times  a  day  at  least,  many  students  in  addition  went  up  into  the  tower  twice  each 
day,  and  down  into  the  basement  once  each  day  to  attend  classes  held  there.  If 
any  went  outside  the  building  at  recess  there  were  four  additional  trips  up  arid 
down  the  seventy-two  steps.  In  addition  to  the  danger  to  physical  health  m 
general,  the  building  was  a  veritable  firetrap.  Fortunately,  the  present  generation 
is  rapidly  abandoning  this  type  of  building. 


Town 

No.  OF 

Teachers 

Almont 

2 

Ann  Arbor 

3 

Battle  Creek 

10 

Bay  City 

Cassopolis 

Charlotte 

2 

3 
3 

Coldwater 

8 

Eaton  Rapids 
Flint 

3 
6 

Niles 

9 

Ypsilanti 

17 

The  Rise  and  Development  of  the  Union  Schools    1 83 

for  an  intermediate  teacher,  was  the  ruling  scale. ^ 
The  programs  of  studies  in  these  schools,  as  we  have 
already  hinted,  varied  greatly  with  the  pride  and  ambi- 
tion of  the  community  and  the  funds  at  the  disposal  of  the 
board.  There  was  no  close  articulation  between  the  dif- 
ferent departments  in  any  school.  Admission  to  the 
academic  or  high-school  department  from  the  grammar- 
school  department  was  in  these  earlier  schools  upon 
examination,  and  examination  only.^  This  included, 
usually,  arithmetic,  grammar,  geography,  reading,  pen- 
manship, composition,"  and  declamation.^  Sometimes 
also,  as  at  Adrian,  algebra,  physiology,  book-keeping  or 
drawing,  and  United  States  history  were  required. 

The  program  of  studies  in  the  academical  or  high-school 
department  was  usually,  from  the  first,  divided  into  two 
courses  —  the  English  and  the  Classical.  Every  school 
offered  the  English  course,  and  the  larger  and  more 
ambitious  schools  had  both.  One  or  two  illustrative 
programs  must  suffice  for  our  purpose. 

In  1858  the  English  course  in  the  Ann  Arbor  High 
School  was  as  follows: 

First  Half  Year:  Elementary  Algebra;  Elementary  Composi- 
tion; Physiology. 

Second  Half  Year:  Davies'  University  Arithmetic;  English 
Grammar;    Physical  Geography. 

Third  Half  Year:     Geometry;   Rhetoric;   History. 

Fourth  Half  Year:  Geometry  (finished);  Natural  History; 
English  Literature;    Elements  of  Criticism;    History. 

Fifth  Half  Year:  Olmstead's  Natural  Philosophy;  Mental 
Philosophy;    Chemistry;    Geology. 

Sixth  Half  Year:   Natural  Philosophy  (finished) ;  Botany;  Reviews. 

lln  1858  Flint  paid  her  teachers  as  follows:  Principal,  J8oo;  first  assistant,  $260; 
second  assistant,  $220;  teachers  of  intermediate  department,  S240:  two  teachers  of 
primary  department,  S200  each.  {Reports,  1858,  p.  458.)  This  same  year  the 
salaries  m  the  Detroit  schools  ranged  from  S200  to  Sooo.  (Ibid.,  p.  451.)  In 
Grand  Rapids  salaries  were  from  $220  to  $1,000.     {Ibid.,  p.  463.) 

2  At  least,  I  have  found  no  records  to  the  contrary. 

3  Report  of  Ann  Arbor,  for  example,  in  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, 1858. 


1 84  Public  Secondary  Education 

In  addition  to  the  above  there  was  offered,  as  optional 
subjects,  a  two  years'  course  in  French  and  in  German. ^ 

The  Classical  Course  for  the  same  school  for  this  year 
was: 

In  Latin:  Harkness'  First  Latin  Book;  Latin  Reader;  Caesar; 
Cicero's  Select  Orations;  Arnold's  Latin  Prose  Composition;  and 
Vergil. 

In  Greek:  Kuehner's  Greek  Grammar  and  Exercises;  Greek 
Reader  or  Anabasis;  Arnold's  Greek  Prose  Composition;   Review. 2 

A  few  years  earlier  than  this  Battle  Creek  offered  the 
following  program:* 

First  Year 

First  Term:  Arithmetic;  English  Grammar;  Physical  Geography ; 
Latin ;   French. 

Second  Term:  Algebra;  English  Language;  Physical  Geography; 
Latin;  French. 

Third  Term:  Algebra;  Rhetoric  and  English  Literature;  Book- 
keeping; Latin;  French.  Reading  and  Spelling  throughout  the 
the  year. 

Second  Year 

First  Term:  Geometry;  Rhetoric  and  English  Literature; 
Chemistry;    Latin;    French;    Greek;    German. 

Second  Term:  Geometry  and  Trigonometry;  Chemistry;  Natural 
Philosophy;    Latin;    French;    Greek;    German. 

Third  Term:  Trigonometry  and  Surveymg ;  Physiology;  Botany; 
Latin;  French;  Greek;   German. 

Third  Year 

First  Term:  Botany;  History;  Zoology;  Latin;  French;  Greek; 
German. 

Second  Term:  History;  Astronomy;  Mental  Philosophy;  Latin; 
French;  Greek;  German;   Drawing. 

Third  Term:  Political  Economy;  Moral  Philosophy;  Geology; 
Latin;  French;  Greek;  German;  Drawing.  Declamations,  Com- 
positions, etc.,  throughout  the  year. 

lAt  the  time  of  the  report  thirty-four  were  pursuing  the  study  of  French,  and 
twelve  of  German.      (Report,  1858,  p.  440.) 

2  At  this  time  fifty-five  were  studying  Latin  and  eighteen   Greek. 

3  Report,  1852,  p.  587. 


The  Rise  and  Development  of  the  Union  Schools    185 

The  above  programs  suggest  the  scope  and  variety  of 
work  offered  in  the  average  school  of  the  stronger  types. 
Apparently  a  pupil  was  expected  at  the  outset  of  his 
high-school  career  to  select  either  the  English  or  the 
Classical  Course  and  to  continue  in  it  without  break  to 
the  end.  The  only  real  flexibility  was  found  in  the 
options  allowed  in  the  modem  languages.^ 

In  some  schools,  however,  a  decided  tendency  is 
observed  to  incorporate  in  the  high-school  program  of 
studies  subjects  that  are  now  usually  confined  to  the 
grammar  school.  In  still  others,  advanced  subjects 
that  approach  the  courses  of  the  university  were  found. 
Grand  Rapids,  for  example,  in  1858  offered  this  course 
in  its  higher  department:  Spelling,  reading,  penmanship, 
geography,  grammar,  mental  arithmetic,  written  arith- 
metic, history,  algebra,  geometry,  book-keeping,  science 
of  government,  rhetoric,  physiology,  natural  philosophy, 
astronomy,  French,  Latin,  composition,  and  declamation.^ 

At  this  same  time  Ypsilanti  offered  this  rich  program 
in  its  academical  department :  Elocutionary  reading,  uni- 
versity arithmetic,  algebra  and  Bourdon,^  geometry  and 
trigonometry,  grammar,  English  analysis,  ancient  and 
modem  history,  natural  philosophy,  logic,  rhetoric,  ele- 
ments of  criticism,  evidences  of  Christianity,  original  and 
selected  declamations  and  compositions,  Latin,  Greek, 
French,  German,  and  music.     The  last  five  were  optional. 

lUntil  1859  no  classical  studies  were  taught  in  any  of  the  Detroit  schools, 
although  the  president  reported  in  1858  that  their  program  of  studies  covered  "the 
whole  range  of  elementary  instruction  from  ABC  up  to  Trigonometry."  (Report, 
1858.  p.  4SI.) 

2  Report,  1858,  p.  465. 

3  Louis  Pierre  Marie  Bourdon  (1799-1854),  a  French  mathematician,  was  the 
author  of  several  published  mathematical  works,  among  them:  Elements  d' 
Alg'ebre  (1815);  Elements  d'Ariihmelique  (1821);  Application  de  I'Algehre  a  la 
Geomelrie  (1824);  Trigonometrie  rectiligue  el  spiriqtie  (1854).  Bourdon's  works 
were  adapted  by  Professor  Davies,  of  West  Point,  and  were  extensively  used  in 
the  United  States.  School  authorities  in  arranging  their  courses  of  study  often 
misused  the  word  Bourdon,  so  that  now  it  is  difficult  to  decide  whether  his  algebra, 
his  geometry,  or  his  transitional  book.  Applications  of  Algebra  to  Geometry,  is 
meant.     The  context  seems  to  imply  that  the  last-mentioned  book  is  intended. 


1 86  Public  Secondary  Education 

Jonesville  also  shows  a  liberal  spirit  in  this  sentence: 
"No  regular  course  of  study,"  says  the  report,  "has 
been  prescribed.  We  have  classes  in  Greek,  Latin, 
French,  German  languages.  Philosophy,  Chemistry, 
Algebra,  Geometry,  Physiology,  Astronomy,  Botany,  and 
in  all  the  Common  English  Branches."^ 

All  these  programs  show  clearly  the  influence  of  the 
academy  movement  on  the  subjects  of  study.  Prescribed 
courses  were  everywhere  going  out,  and  a  principle  of  a 
more  or  less  free  choice  was  coming  in.  We  must  from 
now  on  expect  to  see  the  pendulum  swinging  more  and 
more  away  from  the  traditional  standards  and  toward  a 
more  modem  ideal.  We  shall  first  find  blazed  in  the 
forest  of  subjects  numerous  straight  and  narrow  paths. 
Upon  some  one  of  these  each  and  every  pupil  must  enter, 
and,  having  once  started,  must  persevere  to  the  end  or 
give  up  all  attempt  to  go  through.  Again,  later,  we  shall 
find  that  this  ideal  did  not  prove  acceptable,  and  a  more 
liberal  principle  was  adopted.  The  pupil  was  now 
permitted  to  cross  over  from  one  course  to  another, 
provided  he  did  so  at  certain  specifically  prescribed  points. 
Still  once  more,  we  shall  see,  satisfactory  conditions  were 
not  secured,  and  a  modified  form  of  older  standards  was  set 
up.  Thus  society  and  the  schools  m.ake  progress  by  cutting 
and  trying,  and  ceaselessly  making  over  past  experiences. 

In  these  early  union  schools  there  was  little  or  no 
apparatus  to  serve  as  pedagogical  aids,  nor  any  school 
libraries  of  any  considerable  size  or  significance.^    The 

1  Report,  1838,  p.  467. 

2  Jonesville  seems  to  have  had  the  best  supply  of  apparatus.  It  consisted  of 
"Chemical  Apparatus  and  full  sets  of  large  Geographical,  Astronomical,  and 
Physiological  Maps,  the  whole  costing  $200."     (Report,  1858,  p.  467.) 

Grand  Rapids  at  the  same  time  reported  the  following  equipment:  One  terrestrial 
globe  at  $12;  one  celestial  globe  at  $12;  one  tellurion  at  $8;  one  telescope  at  J20; 
one  microscope  at  $4.50;  one  horseshoe  magnet  at  S4;  one  set  of  mechanical  powers 
at  $12;  one  set  of  cubical  blocks  at  $1.50  Four  sets  outline  maps,  at  $8  to  $32; 
one  air  pump  at  J 16.  This  gives  a  total  supply  of  thirteen  pieces  with  a  total  value 
of  $122.  (Report,  1858,  p.  463.)  Most  of  the  other  schools  reported  no  apparatus 
and  no  libraries. 


The  Rise  and  Development  of  the  Union  Schools    187 

majority  of  teachers  were  women,  though  as  a  rule  the 
principal  was  a  man,  and  usually  a  college  or  academy 
graduate.  Coeducation  existed  in  every  school,  and  to  the 
minds  of  the  majority  of  principals  was  highly  desirable 
and  to  be  recommended  for  continuance.  A  few  schools 
—  the  older,  larger,  or  better  ones  —  declared  that 
their  academical  departments  had  prepared  youths  for 
college  or  university,  but  for  the  most  part  the  reports 
avow  no  such  honor  and  distinction.  In  almost  every 
town  which  reported  in  1858  a  part,  at  least,  of  the  expense 
of  the  school  was  still  being  raised  by  a  rate  bill.^  How- 
ever, public  sentiment  was  fast  rising  against  the  practice, 
and  in  many  towns  the  amoimts  thus  collected  were  only 
nominal.  People  began  to  feel  with  Superintendent 
Gregory  that  "it  were  a  cruel  mockery  for  the  state  to 
proclaim  a  free  university  to  its  youth  and  at  the  same 
time  to  remind  them  they  can  reach  it  only  by  a  heavy 
preliminary  expense."^ 

As  in  the  academies,  there  was  no  imiformity  in  text- 
books used  in  these  early  union  schools.  The  law  of  the 
state  had,  from  the  beginning,  required  the  Superintendent 
of  Public  Instruction  to  recommend  books  for  use  in  the 
various  schools,  but  their  adoption  was  not  made  man- 
datory. Still,  a  few  books  had  wide  use.  Among  these 
may  be  mentioned  McGuffey's  Readers,  Davies'  mathe- 
matical texts,  Willard's  histories,  Parker's  Aids  to  English 
Composition,  and  his  Natural  Philosophy;  and  Dr.  Watts' 
Improvement  of  the  Mind. 

This,  then,  was  the  mode  of  development  of  the  imion 
schools  of  Michigan,  and  these  were  their  general  char- 
acteristics and  conditions  in  the  sixth  decade  of  the  past 
century.     Directly  out  of  these  schools,  as  we  have  already 

1  Detroit,  Ann  Arbor,  Fenton,  and  one  or  two  other  towns  declared  that  the 
English  course  in  their  schools  was  free  to  students  of  their  own  districts. 

2  Superintendent  Gregory  in  his  Report  for  1859,  p.  332. 


1 88  Public  Secondary  Education 

stated,  grew  the  present-day  high  schools  of  the  state. 
The  rise  and  development  of  those  institutions  will  be 
left  to  the  succeeding  chapter.  Not  until  the  law  of 
February  14,  1859,  can  the  true  high-school  period  in 
Michigan  be  said  to  have  begtin.  Up  to  that  date  no 
separation  of  the  school  statistics  was  made  by  the  state 
authorities,  so  that  it  is  difficult  to  present  accurately 
the  detailed  facts  of  their  immediate  progenitors. 

In  1859  there  were,  however,  fifty-eight  graded  or  union 
districts  in  the  state.  Many  of  these,  of  course,  had  no 
academical  or  higher  department  whatever;  others  had 
only  the  beginnings  of  one. 

In  response  to  circulars  sent  out  by  the  Educational 
Department  of  Michigan  in  1859,  twenty-seven  cities 
and  towns  reported  on  the  status  of  their  union  schools. 
At  the  end  of  this  chapter  will  be  foimd  a  list  of  these 
schools,  together  with  the  most  interesting  data  gleaned 
from  the  replies  to  the  circular  mentioned.  All  but  eight 
of  the  twenty-seven  schools  reported  absolutely  free  tui- 
tion for  i860,  though  the  law  abolishing  the  rate  bill 
did  not  pass  until  July  3,  1869.^ 

Meanwhile,  in  1850,  the  constitution  of  the  state  was 
revised,  but  no  changes  essential  to  our  study  were  made 
therein,  save  that  the  legislature  was  ordered,  within  five 
years,  to  provide  for  establishing  a  system  of  primary 
schools  in  which  instruction,  without  any  charge  for 
tuition,  was  to  be  given  at  least  three  months  in  every 
year  in  every  district  in  the  state,  and  all  instruction  was 
to  be  in  the  English  language. ^  We  shall  later  see  the 
trouble  this  last  sentence  caused. 

Union  schools,  of  course,  continued  to  exist  after  1859, 

1  It  may  be  interesting  to  note  that  in  this  same  year  the  University  of  Michigan 
reported  having  fifteen  professors,  three  assistant  professors,  three  instructors,  one 
assistant,  and  430  students.  (Regents'  report,  1859,  in  School  Reports  for  that 
year,  Document  No.  s,  p.  74.) 

2  Section  4  of  Article  XIII  of  the  Constitution  of  Michigan,  as  drawn  in  1850. 


The  Rise  and  Development  of  the  Union  Schools    189 


and  are  to-day  important  institutions  in  Michigan.  For 
the  purposes  of  this  book,  however,  we  have  traced  their 
history  as  far  as  we  need.  We  shall  now  turn  to  the 
high  school,  considered  in  its  own  right. 

Table  of  Union  Schools  Reporting  in  1859  1 


Town 


Adrian , 

Almont 

Ann  Arbor  City 

Ann  Arbor,  Lower  Town 

Bay  City 

Battle  Creek 

Cassopolis 

Charlotte 

Clinton 

Coldwater 

Dexter 

Dowagiac 

Eaton  Rapids 

East  Saginaw 

Fentonville 

Flint 

Jonesville 

Kalamazoo 

Lansing,  Lower  Town .  . 
Lansing,  Middle  Town . . 

Monroe 

Niles 

Plymouth 

St.  Clair 

Sturgis 

Tecumseh 

Ypsilanti 


No. 
Attend- 
ing 


II78 
200 

1325 
200 

170 

183 
208 
619 
300 

245 
220 

367 
229 

340 
351 
941 
328 
320 
490 
450 
220 

540 

237 

500 

1200 


No. 
Teachers 


15 

3 
18 

3 
2 

10 
3 
3 
4 
9 
5 
4 
3 
5 
3 
6 

5 
16 

3 

4 
8 

9 

3 
6 

4 

9 

17 


Weeks       Date  of 
OF  Organiza- 

SCHOOL  I     TION 


40 

42 
40 

42 
40 
42 

36 

42 
40 
42 

44 

42 
40 

42 
40 
40 
40 
40 
40 
40 

41 
40 

42 
40 

44 
40 

43 


1849 

1859 
1856 

1854 
1854 
1847 

1857 
1859 
1859 
1853 
1856 

1857 
1853 
1853 
1853 
1846 
1847 

1859 
1852 

1857 
1859 
1856 

1853 
1853 
1855 
1852 

1849 


J  Report,  i8sQ,  p.  234.  There  were  of  course  many  other  flourishing  union 
schools  with  academical  departments  besides  these  that  reported.  Detroit,  for 
example,  had  four  union  schools  at  this  time,  with  at  least  one  that  gave  instruction 
of  an  academical  grade. 


CHAPTER  IX 

The  High-School  Era 

THE  true  high-school  era  in  Michigan  began  Febru- 
ary 14,  1859.^  On  this  date  the  governor  approved 
a  legislative  act  which  authorized  graded-school  districts 
to  establish  academical  or  high-school  departments  in 
their  union  schools.  This  date  is  therefore  a  turning 
point  in  the  history  of  secondary  education  in  the  state. 

Academic  departments,  it  is  true,  had  developed  in 
many  union  schools  long  before  this  time,  but  they  had 
no  certain  and  specific  legal  status.  They  were  merely 
the  natural  product  of  the  conditions  of  the  age.  Under 
the  new  law  the  way  was  opened  for  the  establishment 
and  expansion  of  these  secondary  schools  imder  more 
favorable  and  permanent  conditions. 

From  this  date  the  zeal  and  enthusiasm  for  public 
high  schools  —  particularly  in  the  cities  and  larger 
villages — was  amazing.  Communities  vied  with  each 
other  in  taxing  themselves  for  building  sites  and  buildings, 
and  in  providing  a  course  of  instruction  that  should  be 
complete  from  bottom  to  top.     The  high  school  speedily 

1  The  important  sections  of  this  law  read:  "Any  district  containing  more  than 
200  children  between  the  ages  of  four  and  eighteen  years  may  elect  a  District  Board 
consisting  of  six  Trustees:  Provided,  the  District  shall  so  determine  at  an  annual 
meeting."  (Sec.  147,  Laws  of  1859,  p.  218.)  Section  149  reads:  ','Said  Trustees 
shall  have  power  to  classify  and  grade  the  scholars  in  such  District  and  to  cause 
them  to  be  taught  in  such  schools  or  departments  as  they  may  deem  expedient;  to 
establish  in  said  District  a  High  School  when  ordered  by  a  vote  of  the  district, 
at  any  annual  meeting,  and  to  determine  the  qualifications  of  admission  to  such 
school  and  the  prices  to  be  paid  for  tuition  or  any  branches  taught  therein,  etc." 
(Laws  of  1859,  p.  219.)  Section  150  gives  the  district  the  right  to  "vote  at  each 
annual  meeting  such  sums  to  be  raised  by  tax  upon  the  taxable  property  of  the 
District  as  may  be  required  to  maintain  the  several  schools  thereof  for  the  year." 
Section  151  says:  "Any  two  or  more  contiguous  districts  may  unite  to  form  a 
single  district  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  Graded  or  High  Schools  under  the 
provisions  of  this  act  whenever  the  said  districts  shall  severally  by  a  two-thirds 
vote  of  the  legal  voters  attending  the  annual  meeting  agree  thereto." 

190 


The  High-School  Era  191 

took  the  place,  in  the  popular  mind,  of  the  old  academies, 
and  this  type  of  institution,  as  we  have  seen,  was  in 
large  measure  abandoned  to  its  fate. 

There  were,  of  course,  for  a  number  of  years  after  this, 
whole  commimities,  and  a  greater  or  smaller  constituency 
of  individuals  in  nearly  every  community,  that  did  not 
share  the  optimism  or  the  satisfaction  of  the  majority. 
To  these  the  high  school  was  a  needless  burden  upon  the 
taxpayers;  an  attempt  to  strain  after  the  impracticable 
and  useless;  an  aristocratic  institution,  designed  and 
established  for  the  aristocracy,  approved  by  the  aris- 
tocracy, and  made  up  of  the  aristocracy.  Among  these 
was  repeated  the  perennial  falsehood:  "What  was  good 
enough  for  father  and  mother  is  good  enough  for  the 
children."  Indeed,  Superintendent  Gregory  in  his  report 
for  1859  already  recognized  the  dangers  that  beset  the 
new  type  of  school  when  he  declared:  "There  is  no 
branch  of  our  educational  system  that  awakens  so  much 
hope  and  occasions  so  much  solicitude  as  the  so-called 
imion  schools."^ 

However,  as  already  stated,  the  establishment  and 
expansion  of  the  public  high  school  went  on  apace.  In 
1859  there  were  in  Michigan  3,968  school  districts.  Of 
these  only  fifty  were  organized  into  graded  districts; 
and  of  these  fifty  not  all  included  true  academic  depart- 
ments.2  Within  twenty  years,  however,  these  figures 
had  been  enormously  augmented.  Naturally  the  events 
connected  with  the  Civil  War  temporarily  checked  the 
advance  of  all  schools — the  high  school  included — but 
Michigan  rapidly  recovered  from  the  depression  incident 
to  that  struggle,  and  the  passion  for  education  surged 

1  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  1859,  p.  25.  While  the  sentence 
includes  a  consideration  of  the  lower  grades  as  well  as  the  high  school,  it  is  obvious 
that  the  thought  has  reference  primarily  to  the  higher  or  academical  departments 
of  the  union  school. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  24. 


192  Public  Secondary  Education 


onward  again. 

The  following 

table 

sho\\ 

rs   the  gro\ 

of  high  schools 

,  by  years, 

down  to 

1877. 

1 

Date           of 

Number 
High  Schools 
Established 

Date 

OF 

Number 
High  Schools 
Established 

1858 

2l2 

1868 

12 

1859 

6 

1869 

10 

i860 

4 

1870 

6 

1861 

4 

1871 

8 

1862 

2 

1872 

4 

1863 

5 

1873 

6 

1864 

3 

1874 

3 

1865 

4 

1875 

0 

1866 

II 

1876 

0 

1867 

15 

1877 

0 

Total  124 

Thus  the  period  from  1866  to  1873  was  the  time  of  most 
phenomenal  advancement  in  the  establishment  of  high 
schools  in  Michigan.  By  the  end  of  that  time  practically 
every  city  in  the  state  contained  an  institution  of  this 
kind.  From  the  cities  the  movement  spread  into  the 
larger  towns  and  thence  to  the  smaller  villages.  As  the 
definition  of  a  high  school  became  more  and  more  inclu- 
sive, communities  that  at  the  beginning  of  this  era  felt 
themselves  unable  or  indisposed  to  meet  the  standard, 
began  to  aspire  to  schools  of  this  rank.  Hence,  even 
though  the  cities  were  already  provided,  the  high-school 
movement  continued  to  develop.  Many  of  the  smaller 
schools,  it  is  true,  make  no  attempt  to  provide  a  full 
college-preparatory  program  of  studies,  or  even  to  offer 
a  full  four  years'  high-school  course.  Many  of  them 
provide  only  three   years  of  study  beyond  the  eighth 

1  Data  taken  from  Reports  of  Superintendents  of  Public  Instruction,  1873  to  1877. 
Tables  of  Statistics.  Alter  1877  no  record  seems  to  have  been  kept  of  these  data, 
though  of  course  many  other  high  schools  have  been  established  since  then. 

2  These  figures  mclude  all  high  schools  established  previous  to  1859  in 
connection  with  the  union  schools. 


The  High-School  Era  193 

grade;  others  offer  only  two  years,  and  still  others  but 
one  year.  Nevertheless,  each  little  community  insists 
that  honor  shall  be  given  where  honor  is  due,  and  there- 
fore cherishes  the  name  "high  school"  whenever  the 
facts  offer  the  least  opportimity  to  employ  the  term  with 
a  modicimi  of  truthfulness.^ 

In  1874  the  agitation  and  alarm  caused  by  the  enemies 
of  the  public  high  schools  reached  their  climax,  but  were 
soon  effectively  and  permanently  checked  by  two  judicial 
decisions,  handed  down  this  same  year.  These  were  the 
judgments  rendered  in  the  now  famous  Kalamazoo  High 
School  case,  and,  so  far  as  the  State  of  Michigan  v/as 
concerned,  they  forever  settled  the  legal  status  of  public 
schools  of  secondary  grade. 

For  some  years  the  claim  had  been  made  by  the  oppo- 
nents of  the  high  schools  that  nothing  but  primary  instruc- 
tion could  legally  be  given  in  any  of  the  common  schools 
of  the  state.  The  contention  was  based  upon  alleged 
constitutional  provisions,  upon  legislative  enactments, 
and  upon  public  policy.  At  an  early  date,  it  was  argued, 
the  legislature  had  established  the  Primary  School  Interest 
Fimd,  and  had  inviolably  dedicated  it  to  the  use  of 
the  common  schools.  Indeed,  the  constitution  had  it- 
self incorporated  the  idea  into  fundamental  law.^  The 
common  schools  did  not  include  high  schools.  Secondary 
education  was  a  recognized  part  of  superior  education, 
and  for  this  the  University  Fund  and  other  special  funds 
had  been  set  apart.^    In  fact,  until    1846  or  later  the 

1  The  Report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Puhlic  Instruction,  19 14,  gives  a  list  of  105 
incorporated  cities  and  279  incorporated  villages  possessing  high  schools.  (Report, 
1914,  pp.  180  #.) 

2  Constitution  of  1850,  Article  XIII,  Section  2. 

3  Section  18  of  Act  of  1851  reads:  "As  soon  as  the  income  of  the  University 
interest  fund  will  admit,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Regents  to  organize 
and  establish  branches  of  the  University,  one  at  least  in  each  judicial  circuit  or 
district  ot  the  state,  and  to  establish  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  for  the 
government  of  the  same.  They  shall  not  give  to  any  such  branch  the  right  of 
conferring  degrees,  nor  appropriate  a  sum  exceeding  ^1,500  in  any  one  year  for 
the  support  of  any  such  branch." 

14 


194  Public  Secondary  Education 

support  of  many  of  the  secondary  schools  had  always  come, 
in  part,  from  the  University  Fund,  and  the  administra- 
tion of  these  schools  had  been  looked  upon  as  a  function 
of  the  regents.  To  attempt,  therefore,  to  appropriate 
moneys  from  the  Common  School  Fimd  to  the  use  of  the 
high  school  was  a  diversion  of  resources  and  hence  was 
unconstitutional. 

Moreover,  it  was  urged,  any  public  primary  school 
giving  instruction  in  a  foreign  language  was  infringing 
upon  the  provisions  of  Section  4  of  Article  XIII  of  the 
State  Constitution,^  and  therefore  that  the  law  of  Feb- 
ruary 14,  1859,  was  null  and  void,  since  it  authorized 
schools  contrary  to  the  fundamental  law.  In  the  sen- 
tence, "all  instruction  shall  be  conducted  in  the  English 
language,"  the  opponents  of  the  high  school  felt  they  had 
a  just  warrant  for  banishing  from  the  schools  Greek  and 
Latin,  French  and  German.  But  a  professed  secondary 
school  without  those  languages  would,  at  that  time,  have 
been  regarded  as  no  high  school  at  all.  Hence,  it  was 
hoped,  by  driving  out  the  study  of  foreign  languages  the 
high  school  itself  would  be  driven  out. 

There  were  other  contentions  made  that  need  not  here 
be  considered.^ 

In  order  to  secure  a  definite  judicial  decision  upon  the 
points  of  law  in  dispute,  a  friendly  suit  was  instituted 
before  the  ninth  Judicial  Circuit  Court  of  Michigan. 
The  case  was  called  in  the  name  of  Charles  E.  Stuart 
et  al.  versus  School  District  No.  i  of  Kalamazoo  et  al.,  and 

1  This  section  reads:  "The  legislature  shall  within  five  years  from  the  adoption 
of  this  constitution,  provide  for  and  establish  a  system  of  primary  schools,  whereby 
a  school  shall  be  kept  without  charge  for  tuition  at  least  three  months  in  each  year 
in  every  school  district  in  the  state,  and  all  instruction  in  said  school  shall  be 
conducted  in  the  English  language." 

2  For  example,  it  was  also  denied  that  moneys  could  legally  be  raised  by  taxation 
to  pay  the  salary  of  a  school  superintendent.  This  contention  was  based  on  that 
section  of  the  law  that  imposed  upon  boards  of  education  the  right  and  duty  to 
grade  the  school,  appoint  teachers,  select  textbooks,  determine  the  course  of  study, 
the  qualifications  for  admission,  the  rate  of  tuition,  and  similar  powers. 


The  High-School  Era  195 

in  it  the  plaintiffs  prayed  the  court  to  issue  orders  restrain- 
ing the  school  officials  from  imposing  and  collecting  taxes 
for  the  support  of  the  local  high  school  or  for  the  pay- 
ment of  the  salary  of  the  school  superintendent. 
The  case  was  tried  before  Judge  Charles  R.  Brown,  who 
at  its  conclusion  rendered  a  judgment  adverse  to  the 
petitioners.^ 

In  arriving  at  his  opinion  Judge  Brown  entered  at  some 
length  into  the  history  of  the  public  schools  of  Michigan, 
called  attention  to  the  sections  of  law  that  bore  upon  the 
case  and  the  obvious  intent  of  the  framers  of  those  laws, 
and  summed  up  his  judgment  by  dismissing  the  suit. 
Respecting  the  constitutional  provision,  Mr.  Brown  held 
that  the  clause  requiring  the  legislatttre  to  establish  a 
system  of  primary  schools  did  not  in  any  way  limit  the 
power  of  the  legislature  to  that  duty,  but  left  it  free  like- 
wise to  provide  other  schools  at  its  pleasure.  Moreover, 
the  constitutional  clause  requiring  all  schools  to  be  con- 
ducted in  the  English  language,  he  held,  signified  only 
that  the  general  instruction  given  should  not  be  com- 
municated in  a  foreign  language,  but  that  it  did  not  pre- 
clude teaching  foreign  languages  in  the  schools  if  the 
officials  so  voted.^ 

On  appeal,  the  case  was  at  once  carried  before  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Michigan,  by  which  a  decision  was 
rendered  in  July  of  that  same  year,  sustaining  the  lower 
court  in  every  essential  particular.^  The  judgment  of 
the  court  was  written  by  Hon.  Thomas  Cooley,  one  of 
Michigan's  eminent  jurists,  and  the  opinion  carried  au- 
thority far  beyond  the  borders  of  the  commonwealth. 
The  opinion  was  not  only  a  masterpiece  of  legal  analysis 

1  The  decision  was  rendered  February  9,  1874. 

2  A  full  report  of  this  judgment  may  be  found  in  Report  of  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction  for  Michigan,  1873,  pp.  399  ff. 

3  For  full  report,  see  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  i874> 
pp.  409  #. 


196  Public  Secondary  Education 

and  of  interpretation,  but  it  was  also  a  model  of  English 
diction  and  rhetoric,  and  contained  withal  a  most  lucid 
and  terse  sketch  of  the  development  of  the  school  system 
in  the  territory  and  state.  Mr.  Cooley  therefrom  con- 
cluded that  the  "general  state  policy"  had,  from  18 17 
down,  "been  uninterruptedly  and  imiformly  in  the  direc- 
tion of  free  schools  in  which  education,  and,  at  their  op- 
tion, the  elements  of  classical  education,  might  be  brought 
within  the  reach  of  all  the  children  of  the  state." 

The  effect  of  the  decision  was  greatly  to  strengthen  the 
high  schools  that  had  already  been  established  and  to 
encourage  other  and  smaller  communities  to  plan  similar 
institutions. 

Not  only,  however,  were  high  schools  as  institutions 
enormously  increasing  in  numbers  during  the  era  imder 
consideration,  but  the  nvmiber  of  pupils  availing  them- 
selves of  the  opportunities  afforded  by  these  schools 
was  also  vastly  increased.  Each  year  saw  larger  and 
larger  enrollments  in  nearly  every  school.  Buildings 
which  had  been  erected  but  a  few  years  before  were  foimd 
inadequate  to  accommodate  the  throngs.  Rooms  that 
were  designed  for  grade  pupils  were  one  by  one  appro- 
priated to  the  use  of  the  high  school,  and  other  quarters 
were  provided  for  the  members  thus  dispossessed.  In- 
deed, how  to  anticipate  the  growing  needs  for  high-school 
facilities  and  to  provide  for  them  became  an  almost 
annual  problem  for  boards  of  education  and  superinten- 
dents from  one  end  of  the  state  to  the  other. 

Doubtless  several  causes  contributed  to  produce  these 
conditions.  Among  these  was  the  rapid  development 
of  cities  and  towns  in  the  state,  and  the  continuous  trend 
of  the  rural  population  toward  these  centers  of  industry. 
The  rise  of  manufacturing  institutions  and  the  develop- 
ment of  the  railroads  —  and  more  recently  of  electric 


The  High-School  Era  197 

roads — also  helped  to  knit  the  people  together  and  to 
stimtilate  a  desire  for  enlarged  educational  advantages. 
Likewise,  too,  the  increased  personal  wealth  of  thrifty 
families  and  the  accompanying  social  and  cultural  aspira- 
tions they  had  for  their  children  bore  directly  upon  the 
situation.  But  above  and  beyond  all  of  these  causal 
factors  was  another  that  has  worked  with  a  mightily 
potent  influence  throughout  its  history.  This  power  was 
the  University  of  Michigan. 

We  have  seen  in  our  earlier  chapters  that  education  in 
Michigan  developed  pretty  largely  from  the  top  down- 
ward. That  is  to  say,  from  early  territorial  days  higher 
education  received  the  first  attention,  both  in  theory  and 
in  practice.  The  hold  that  the  university  acqtdred  upon 
the  popular  mind,  even  in  the  days  of  the  Catholepis- 
temiad,  was  phenomenal,  and  it  has  never  been  relaxed 
even  down  to  the  present.  During  the  period  in  which 
the  union  schools  and  the  high  schools  were  in  their 
formative  stages,  the  imiversity  exerted  an  exceptionally 
strong  and  beneficent  influence  upon  them.  One  can 
trace  this  influence  through  their  aims,  spirit,  and  ideals; 
through  their  organization  and  administration;  their 
programs  of  study;  their  standards  of  scholarship;  the 
flexibility  of  their  curricula;  the  articulation  with  the 
college  and  with  the  lower  schools,  and  even,  in  slight 
measure,  through  the  methods  of  instruction.  We  shall 
touch  upon  each  of  these  aspects  in  the  proper  places. 
Suffice  it  to  say  here  that,  as  a  general  rule,  notable 
changes  and  reforms  have  first  found  their  application 
in  the  university  and  have  then  been  carried  into  the 
field  of  secondary  education. 

Nevertheless,  in  one  very  notable  respect  at  least, 
the  reverse  of  this  rule  has  been  true.  This  is  with  refer- 
ence to  coeducation  of  the  sexes.     From  the  earliest  day 


igS  Public  Secondary  Education 

in  Michigan  the  primary  school,  the  union  school,  the 
academies,  and  even  the  branches  of  the  imiversity  looked 
upon  coeducation  as  eminently  proper  and  feasible. 
Not  every  academy,  to  be  sure,  or  every  branch  of 
the  university,  admitted  girls  or  women  to  its  courses. 
This  fact,  however,  was  based  more  upon  the  idea  of 
expediency  and  personal  predilection  than  upon  any 
common  theory  or  estabHshed  principle. 

Nevertheless,  despite  these  current  practices,  coedu- 
cation in  colleges  and  tmiversities  —  and  for  that  matter 
the  separate  higher  education  of  women  in  separate  col- 
leges—  was  in  general,  and  until  a  very  recent  date, 
denoimced  in  theory  and  imheard  of  in  practice,  not  only 
in  Michigan  but  in  almost  every  other  part  of  the  world. 
Women  were  regarded  as  being  unfit  both  physically 
and  mentally  for  higher  things  in  the  way  of  intellectual 
culture.  And  as  for  coeducation,  social  and  moral  reasons 
were  adduced  to  combat  the  idea.  A  "finishing  school," 
at  the  most,  was  considered  commensurate  with  woman's 
native  ability  and  in  keeping  with  the  highest  social  ends. 
Like  all  false  notions,  however,  these,  too,  were  bound 
in  time  to  be  refuted  and  disproved.  Coeducation  first 
pried  open  the  doors  of  the  primary  school,  then  of  the 
academies,  then  of  the  grammar  school,  then  of  the  high 
school,  then  of  the  normal  school,  and  finally  also  those 
of  the  college  and  the  university.  The  full  but  tardy 
acceptance  of  this  principle  by  institutions  of  higher 
learning  naturally  had  a  reciprocal  and  correlative  influ- 
ence upon  the  lower  schools.  Particularly  have  the  high 
schools  been  greatly  affected  by  it. 

No  clearly  audible  demands  for  the  admission  of  women 
to  the  University  of  Michigan  seem  to  have  been  made 
until  after  the  ratification  of  the  revised  state  constitu- 
tion in  1 85 1.     Certain  clauses  in  that  instrument,  and 


The  High-School  Era  igg 

subsequent  legislation  based  upon  them,  seemed  to  give 
the  friends  of  coeducation  a  leverage.  The  law  provided 
that  the  imiversity  should  be  open  without  charge  to 
"all  persons"  in  the  state.^  Did  the  words  "all  persons" 
include  women?  Obviously,  in  common  parlance,  they 
did,  but  whether  or  not  technically  they  comprehended 
women  was  a  question  of  earnest  dispute.  At  any  rate, 
there  soon  arose  a  not  insignificant  party  which  continued 
to  clamor  for  equal  privileges  for  both  sexes  at  the  uni- 
versity. Memorials  and  petitions  were  addressed  to  the 
president,  the  faculties,  the  regents,  and  even  to  the  legis- 
lature and  the  courts,  urging  the  claims  of  women.  Even 
local  communities  took  up  the  discussion,  and  sentiment 
was  formed  from  one  end  of  the  state  to  the  other. 
The  more  the  idea  was  opposed  the  stronger  it  grew. 
In  1855  the  Michigan  State  Teachers'  Association,  by 
resolution,  went  on  record  in  favor  of  opening  the  uni- 
versity to  all  alike.^  About  the  same  time  a  monster 
petition  was  sent  to  the  regents  praying  them  to  grant 
this  avowed  right  to  the  daughters  of  the  state.  This 
body  referred  the  matter  to  a  committee,  which  in  turn 
sought  the  advice  of  numerous  influential  educators 
throughout  the  United  States.^  Conflicting  and  varying 
opinions  were  received,  but  the  committee  finally  reported 
that  "at  present  it  is  inexpedient  to  introduce  the  plan 
into  the  university."'*     This  was  in  1858. 

Nevertheless,  the  agitation  did  not  cease.     The  courts 

1  Section  13  of  Act  151.  approved  April  8,  1831,  says:  "The  University  shall  be 
open  to  all  persons  resident  of  this  state  without  charge  of  tuition,  under  the 
regulations  prescribed  by  the  Regents,  and  to  all  other  persons  under  such  regula- 
tions and  restrictions  as  the  board  may  prescribe." 

2  Report  of  Superinlendent  of  Public  Instruction,  1859,  pp.  no  ff.  The  resolution 
reads  thus:  "That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  Association  that  coeducation  of  the 
sexes  is  in  accordance  with  true  philosophy  and  is  practically  expedient."  The 
resolution  grew  out  of  a  report  made  by  Professor  Putnam,  and  of  discussions  to 
which  the  report  and  other  papers  led. 

3  Among  the  persons  consulted  were  Presidents  Hopkins  of  Williams  College, 
Walker  of  Harvard,  Woolsey  of  Yale,  and  several  others. 
^Regents'  Report,  1858. 


200  Public  Secondary  Education 

were  besought  for  a  mandamus  requiring  the  regents  to 
put  into  effect  the  statutory  provisions.  The  legislature 
was  solicited  to  erect,  separately,  another  state  institution 
exclusively  devoted  to  the  higher  education  of  women  in 
college  and  imiversity  branches.  A  private  school  was 
founded  at  Lansing  which  seems  to  have  had  the  ambition 
and  hope  that  it  would  shortly  receive  the  financial  sup- 
port of  the  state  and  would  ultimately  be  transformed 
into  a  state  university  for  women.^  The  Superintendent 
of  Public  Instruction,  in  his  annual  reports,  touched  at 
length  upon  the  matter  and  gave  it  as  his  deliberate 
opinion  that  the  regents  were  acting  contrary  to  their 
legal  and  moral  obligations. 

Still,  for  several  years  no  practical  progress  was  made 
save  in  intensifying  and  crystallizing  public  sentiment. 
Until  1870  the  regents  were  obdurate.^  In  that  year 
they  receded  from  their  former  position  and  voted  to 
admit  to  the  university  both  sexes  on  an  equal  footing.^ 
In  February  of  that  year  the  first  woman  student  was 
matriculated.  The  following  school  year,  1870-71,  there 
were  thirty-four  women  enrolled  —  fourteen  being  in 
the  Department  of  Literature,  Science,  and  the  Arts; 
eighteen  in  the  Department  of  Medicine,  and  two  in 
the  Department  of  Law.*  From  that  day  to  this  the 
enrollment   has   never   slackened.     In    1 908-1 909   there 

1  This  was  the  Michigan  Female  College.  Miss  A.  C.  Rogers,  the  principal  of 
this  school,  reported  in  1858  that  one  building  was  complete  and  she  hoped  con- 
tributions would  soon  be  made  to  carry  out  the  ideals  of  the  founders.  The 
program  of  studies  included  a  full  four  years'  course  in  classics  and  science.  (Report. 
1858.  pp.  418  ff.) 

2 The  legislature  in  1867  adopted  this  resolution:  "Resolved  that  it  is  the 
deliberate  opinion  of  this  Legislature  that  the  high  objects  for  which  the  University 
of  Michigan  was  organized  will  never  be  fully  attained  until  women  are  admitted 
to  all  its  rights  and  privileges."  {President's  Report,  1868,  p.  191.)  The  president 
of  the  university,  Mr.  E.  O.  Haven,  also  advised  the  experiment,  but  the  State 
Superintendent  was  unfavorable  to  the  plan. 

3  Regents'  Report,  1870.     The  exact  date  was  January  S,  1870. 

4  The  first  woman  to  matriculate  was  Miss  Madalon  Louisa  Stockwell  of  Kala- 
mazoo, who  enrolled  in  the  Literary  Department,  February  2,  1870.  (Regentr' 
Report.  1870.) 


The  High-School  Era  201 

were  enrolled  in  all  departments  886  women  students.* 
To-day  the  number  is  in  excess  of  twelve  hundred. 

Obviously  this  decision  of  the  regents  was  bound  to 
have  a  notable  reaction  upon  the  high  schools.  Espe- 
cially was  this  the  case  in  the  larger  cities  and  towns, 
because  the  decision  came  as  it  did  at  the  end  of  years 
of  public  clamor  and  agitation.  While  the  high  schools 
in  Michigan  never  were,  and  are  not  now,  primarily 
established  to  serve  as  college-preparatory  schools,  pure 
and  simple,  they  have  from  the  very  outset  had  this  ideal 
as  one  of  their  aims,  and  have  consistently  carried  out 
these  ideals  in  practice.  From  the  earhest  times,  too, 
the  high  schools  have,  in  general,  enrolled  a  larger  propor- 
tion of  girls  than  of  boys.  Since,  however,  imtil  1870  no 
opportimity  was  afforded  girls  to  secure  a  college  or 
tmiversity  education  at  state  expense,  a  relatively  small 
niimber  completed  the  high-school  course  or  aspired 
to  further  education.  During  this  period  the  State 
Normal  School  alone  invited  girls  to  post-high-school 
study.2 

After  1870  all  this  was  changed.  Not  only,  as  has  been 
said,  did  many  young  ladies  now  remain  for  graduation 
from  the  local  high  school  and  then  enter  the  university, 
but  the  newly  acquired  college  privileges  stimulated 
high-school  life  and  high-school  attendance  in  general. 
One  cannot  doubt  that  the  new  dignity  accorded  to  the 
high  school  in  making  it  a  college-preparatory  school 
for  girls  as  well  as  for  boys  attracted  to  its  doors  hundreds 
of  youths  who  otherwise  would  never  have  entered  them. 
Not  that  all  who  thus  came  remained  to  graduate,  or 

1  College  year  1908-9.  Of  the  total  number,  735  were  enrolled  in  the  Literary 
Department;  one  in  Engineering;  twenty  in  Medicine;  two  in  Law;  four  in 
Pharmacy;  six  in  Homeopathy;  eight  in  Dentistry;  and  no  (omitting  duplicates) 
in  the  summer  school.     (President  Angell's  report  for  1908-1909.) 

2  There  were,  of  course,  private  or  denominational  colleges  admitting  girls 
before  1870.     The  statement  above  has  reference  solely  to  public  education. 


202  Public  Secondary  Education 

that  all  who  graduated  went  on  to  college,  or  that  all 
who  went  on  to  college  entered  the  University  of  Michigan. 
The  point  is  that  the  privilege  granted  by  the  university 
fired  the  imaginations  and  the  ambitions  of  more  youths, 
stimulated  an  interest  in  the  high  schools,  and  thus  vastly 
augmented  the  movement  that  was  already  so  well  tmder 
way  —  the  movement  fostering  and  developing  public 
secondary  education,  open  and  available  for  all. 

Two  other  innovations  made  by  the  university  had 
particularly  potent  influences  upon  the  high  school  of 
the  state.  These  were  the  expansion  of  the  subject- 
matter  within  the  university  program  of  studies;  and, 
secondly,  the  closer  articulation  of  the  vmiversity  with 
the  high  schools  through  affiliation  and  the  granting  of 
certificating  privileges.  We  shall  consider  these  two 
aspects   in   turn. 

In  harmony  with  practically  all  other  colleges  of  Hberal 
culture  in  the  world,  the  University  of  Michigan  at  first 
had  in  its  curriculum  only  one  narrowly  prescribed  course 
of  study  for  every  student.  This  was  the  old,  traditional 
classical  course,  slightly  modified,  requiring  not  only  a 
knowledge  of  mathematics,  Latin,  and  Greek  for  admission, 
but  also  occupying  most  of  the  student's  time  in  college 
with  these  three  branches  of  study. ^  Toward  the  middle 
of  the  centvu-y,  however,  the  scientific  movement  had 
attained  such  proportions  that  it  could  no  longer  be  kept 
in  the  inferior  position  hitherto  assigned  it  by  the  colleges.^ 
Now  concessions  had  to  be  made.  Science  demanded 
a  place  in  the  college  curriculimi  independent  of  that 

1  It  is  found  by  actual  computation  that  slightly  more  than  fifty  per  cent  of  the 
time  was  devoted  to  these  three  subjects. 

2  It  will  be  recalled  that  the  theoretical  scientific  movement  was  as  old  as  Bacon 
and  Comenius,  but  most  of  the  colleges  and  universities  had  until  much  later 
succeeded  in  keeping  the  subject  out  of  their  programs.  Then  isolated  subjects 
were  put  in  the  curriculum  and  prescribed  for  all  students.  Until  about  1850. 
though,  science  was,  generallv  speaking,  a  questionable  field  of  study.  Ihis 
was  true  of  the  University  of  Michigan  as  it  was  of  other  colleges  at  the  tune. 


The  High-School  Era  203 

awarded  the  humanities  and  on  an  equal  footing  with 
them.  In  1853  the  University  of  Michigan  yielded  to 
this  demand  by  instituting,  parallel  with  the  Classical 
Course,  a  Scientific  Course.^  For  admission  to  this 
course  no  pre-coUegiate  training  in  the  ancient  languages 
was  required,  but  once  the  student  was  enrolled  he  was 
reqviired  to  pursue  the  study  of  Latin,  though  not  of 
Greek,  the  same  as  the  classical  students. 

The  principle  of  strict  uniformity  once  having  been 
yielded  it  is  obvious  that  the  divisions  of  the  program 
could  not  vStop  with  two  parallel  courses.  Such  an 
arrangement  was  mere  mockery  of  individual  tastes 
and  capacities.  Further  advance  was  absolutely  imper- 
ative. In  consequence,  new  changes  were  made,  one 
after  another,  and  always  in  the  direction  of  a  greater 
freedom  for  individual  choice.  Election  of  studies 
within  the  courses  was  allowed  to  seniors  as  early  as 
1855  and  1856.  This  same  year,  too  (1855),  a  third 
course,  that  of  civil  engineering,  was  instituted  parallel 
with  the  other  two,  and  in  1864  there  was  added  a  course 
in  mining  engineering.  In  1867  there  were  recognized 
and  offered  by  the  Faculty  six  parallel  courses,  all  leading 
to  a  degree.  These  were  styled  (i)  the  Classical,  (2)  the 
First  Scientific,  (3)  the  Second  Scientific,  (4)  the  Latin 
and  Scientific,  (5)  the  Civil  Engineering,  and  (6)  the 
Mining  and  Engineering  courses.^ 

Having  once  elected  one  of  these  six  courses  the  student 
was  at  first  required  to  pursue,  without  variation,  the 

1  President  Tappan,  in  his  inaugural  address  in  1852,  first  proposed  the  plan, 
and  the  following  year  it  was  carried  into  effect.  One  year  earlier,  however  (in 
1851),  the  legislature,  by  an  act,  opened  the  doors  of  the  university  to  special 
students  —  that  is,  to  students  not  conforming  strictly  to  the  prescribed  course 
or  passing  all  the  prescribed  entrance  examinations.  (Hinsdale's  History  of  the 
University  of  Michigan,  pp.  43  and  44.) 

2  Report  of  President  E.  O.  Haven  for  1867,  in  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction,  1867,  pp.  171  ff.  In  the  Report  of  1870  these  courses  are  styled:  (i)  the 
Classical,  (2)  the  Scientific,  (3)  the  Latin-Scientific,  (4)  the  Greek-Scientific,  (5) 
Civil  Engineering,  and  (6)  Mining  Engineering.  (Report  of  President,  1870, 
p.  210  in  State  Papers.) 


204  Public  Secondary  Education 

subjects  therein  laid  down.  Then  came  the  privilege  to 
seniors  to  elect  certain  subjects  within  that  course.  In 
1870  seniors  were  permitted  the  further  freedom  of 
breaking  over  the  limits  of  their  selected  course  and  of 
choosing  subjects  from  one  or  more  of  the  parallel  coiirses.^ 
All  this  is  an  earnest  of  the  free  elective  system  that  was 
to  come  later. 

In  1873  Dr.  Angell  stated  that  seniors  were  given 
permission  to  elect  work  "from  a  wide  range  of  sub- 
jects," and  in  1874  a  like  privilege  was  granted  the 
juniors.  For  two  years  or  more,  said  President  Angell  in 
his  report  of  that  year,  a  student  was  held  to  a  definite 
course  embracing  the  "disciplinary  and  fundamental 
studies  belonging  to  his  course,"  and  was  then  given  a 
rather  free  option.^ 

In  1877  still  another  course  was  opened  in  the  imi- 
versity,  namely,  a  course  leading  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Letters,  and  articulating  with  the  distinctively  EngHsh 
or  non-linguistic  course  in  the  high  school.^ 

In  1880  the  university  had  revised  its  courses  in  the 
literary  department  and  reduced  them  to  four  in  number. 
These  were  courses  leading  to  the  following  degrees : 

1.  Bachelor  of  Letters,  requiring  neither  Latin  nor  Greek  either 

for  admission  or  for  graduation. 

2.  Bachelor  of  Science,  requiring  one  year  of  Latin  for  admission, 

but  none  thereafter,  and  no  Greek. 

3.  Bachelor  of  Letters  (Latin),  requiring  Latin  for  admission  and 

in  college,  but  no  Greek. 

4.  Bachelor  of  Arts,  requiring  both  Latin  and  Greek  for  admission 

and  also  in  college.^ 

At  the  same  time,  too,  graduation  from  the  university 
was  based  no  longer  upon  a  definite  term  of  residence, 

1  President  Angell's  report  for  1872  in  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, 1872,  p.  176. 

2  Report,  1874,  p.  gs. 

3  Ibid.,   1877,  pp.  14  and  15. 
*Ibid.,  1880,  p.  no. 


The  High-School  Era  205 

but  upon  the  completion  of  a  specific  amount  of  work 
estimated  in  "hours. "^  For  the  A.B.  degree  120  hours' 
credit  were  required,  for  the  other  degrees,  130  hours' 
credit.  About  half  of  these  "hours"  were  open  to  free 
election  by  the  student.- 

In  1889  the  study  of  science  received  another  impulse 
through  the  requirement  made  by  the  university  that 
students  entering  on  the  A.B.  and  the  Ph.B.  courses 
should  offer  for  admission  both  physics  and  botany, 
and  that  candidates  for  the  B.L.  degree  should  present 
for  admission  three  sciences  or,  in  lieu  thereof,  credit 
in  French  and  German.^ 

Finally,  in  1900,  the  university  abolished  all  courses, 
as  such,  in  the  literary  department,  made  the  work 
entirely  elective  (save  for  four  or  six  hours  of  prescribed 
English),  and  conferred  but  one  baccalaureate  degree — 
Bachelor  of  Arts  —  on  the  completion  of  120  semester 
hours. 

Likewise,  too,  for  admission  the  imiversity  no  longer 
required  conformity  to  any  hard-and-fast  courses  of 
study  in  the  preparatory  school.  Certain  prescribed 
subjects,  it  is  true,  were  still  demanded  of  every  matricu- 
lant who  became  a  candidate  for  a  degree,  but  within 
certain  well-defined  and  large  limits  the  individual  had 
nearly  free  choice.* 

As  already  implied,  all  these  changes  in  the  university 
reacted  with  great  force  upon  the  high  schools  of  the 

1  An"hour"was  usually  the  equivalent  of  one  recitation  per  week  carried  through 
one  semester. 

2The  A.B.  course  allowed  $8  hours  of  elective  studies;  the  B.L.  (Latin),  64  hours; 
the  B.L.,  73  hours;  and  the  B.S.,  15  in  natural  science  and  29  others  unlimited  in 
choice.  (From  a  "Table  of  Statistics"  prepared  by  Professor  W.  W.  Beman  and 
Superintendent  W.  S.  Perry,  and  printed  in  Superintendent' s  Report,  1880,  p.  119.) 

^President's  Report  for  1889.  p.  189.  Before  1889  candidates  for  the  degree 
of  B.L.  had  offered  only  two  sciences. 

4  The  requirements  for  admission  in  1900  were  fifteen  units  or  years'  work. 
Of  these,  three  units  in  English,  three  in  mathematics,  one  in  physics,  and  two  in 
any  foreign  language  were  demanded  of  all  regular  students.  The  other  six  units 
were  optional  from  a  wide  field  of  studies. 


2o6  Public  Secondary  Education 

state.     Wherever  the  university  led,   the  high  schools 
readily  and  willingly  followed.* 

Deriving  their  ideals  at  the  outset  from  the  prevalent 
academies  and  seminaries,  the  high  schools  —  before,  in 
fact,  the  opening  of  the  era  under  present  consideration — 
offered  their  work  in  a  more  or  less  imorganized  way. 
There  was  little  or  no  imiformity  anywhere  among  them. 
There  were,  of  course,  certain  common  subjects  found 
in  every  school  professing  to  have  an  academic  depart- 
ment, but  the  order  in  which  these  were  presented,  the 
time  devoted  to  each  branch,  and  the  general  standards 
attained  varied  widely  from  school  to  school,  and  not 
infrequently,  too,  in  the  same  school  in  different  years. 
The  number  and  selection  of  the  uncommon  branches 
taken  up  depended  pretty  largely  upon  expediency  and 
the  resources  of  the  particular  school.  These  conditions 
were  particularly  noticeable  in  the  early  union  schools, 
and  the  early  high  schools  inherited  the  tendency  from 
them.  If  a  pupil,  or  a  group  of  pupils,  desired  to  pursue 
a  particular  study,  that  study  was  usually  taught.  If  in 
the  following  year  or  term  there  was  no  demand  for  that 
subject,  some  other  was  substituted  in  its  place.  If 
Latin  or  Greek  were  desired  by  any  considerable  number 
of  pupils,  a  teacher  qualified  to  give  this  instruction  was 
secured.  If  later  the  constituency  of  the  class  left  school, 
the  teacher's  time  was  employed  in  other  ways.     Indeed, 

1  It  ought  not  to  be  understood  that  the  university  required  the  high  schools  to 
accept  its  terms.  The  university  has  never  dictated.  It  has,  however,  often  of  its 
own  free  w'ill  and  more  often  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  the  high  schools  them- 
selves, given  advice  and  suggestions  to  the  secondary  schools,  and  these  have 
usually  been  accepted  and  followed.  The  relation,  however,  between  the  two 
fields  of  education  is  purely  cooperative.  The  university  has  always  —  and  justly, 
one  must  think  —  claimed  the  right  to  set  its  own  standards  of  admission.  No 
high  school  has,  however,  ever  been  required  to  accept  these  standards  against  its 
own  best  interests  —  and  no  high  school  ought  ever  to  do  so.  The  public  high 
school,  as  established  in  America,  is  a  local  institution  first  of  all.  It  should  defer 
to  local  interest  and  needs  before  attempting  to  serve  in  a  larger  capacity.  This  at 
least  is  the  true  basis  of  the  high  schools  of  Michigan.  A  very  cordial,  kindly, 
mutually  helpful  spirit  has  always  existed,  nevertheless,  between  these  schools  and 
the  university.  It  would  be  a  sad  day  for  education  in  the  state  were  this  relation 
ever  to  cease. 


The  High-School  Era  207 

the  whole  organization  was  on  an  elective  basis,  but 
instead  of  being  an  elective  system  it  was,  to  use  Professor 
Hanus'  words,  an  "elective  chaos." 

Gradually,  however,  definite  order  and  distinct  courses 
began  to  emerge  from  the  confusion,  and  before  the 
opening  of  the  true  high-school  period  a  more  or  less  stable 
goal  had  been  set  up,  and  the  straight  and  narrow  way 
leading  to  it  had  been  laid  out.  Wherever  the  programs 
of  studies  had  evolved  so  far  as  to  warrant  the  appellations 
of  distinct  courses,  two  were  usually  found,  namely,  the 
Classical  Course  and  the  English  Course.  The  first  of 
these,  so  far  as  the  choice  and  scope  of  the  subject-matter 
was  concerned,  was  pretty  uniform;  the  second  was  far 
from  being  so.  In  his  report  of  186 1  Superintendent 
Gregory  presented  to  the  school  men  of  Micliigan  a  sug- 
gestive program  of  studies  for  union  schools.  The  plan  for 
the  elementary  grades  is  definite  and  specific,  but  for  the 
high  schools  he  only  "indicates"  what  may  be  included. 
These  subjects  are  algebra,  geometry,  natural  philoso- 
phy, rhetoric,  natural  history,  botany,  geology,  chemistry, 
moral  and  mental  philosophy,  and  ancient  and  modem 
languages.^  This  constituted  the  ideal  program  of  the 
day,  and  doubtless  its  recommendation  was  of  consid- 
erable influence  in  helping  to  bring  imity  into  the  work. 

Following  closely  the  university,  and  keeping  step  with 
her,  the  high  schools  next  began  to  modify  and  divide 
the  two  courses  already  mentioned,  and  to  admit  into 
their  curricula  other  and  newer  subjects.  Just  as  in  the 
university,  the  next  course  to  be  established  was  the  Sci- 
entific. Then  came  the  Latin-Scientific  and  the  EngHsh- 
Scientific  and  these  were  followed  by  courses  made  up  of 
various  combinations  of  subjects  grouped  under  appro- 
priate headings.     Once   having   selected   his   course  on 

^Report  for  1861,  p.  45. 


2o8  Public  Secondary  Education 

entrance  to  the  high  school,  a  pupil's  fate  was  sealed. 
Henceforth  his  road  was  laid  out  for  him  between  nar- 
row and  unchanging  lines.  To  turn  either  to  the  right  or 
left  was  strictly  forbidden;  to  go  ahead,  often  impossible. 
The  only  way  out  for  the  pupil  who  found  he  had  made 
an  inapt  election  was  to  retreat  to  the  entrance  and  begin 
again.  Even  this  Hobson's  choice  was  not  always  given 
him,  and,  if  it  were,  discouragement  frequently  hemmed 
him  in  so  thickly  that  the  usual  result  was  the  total  aban- 
donment of  school, —  without  graduation  and  with  little  or 
no  return  to  show  for  his  one  or  two  or  three  years'  effort. 
Nevertheless,  despite  the  apparent  evils,  this  pernicious 
system  dominated  the  schools  for  several  years  to  come. 
Educators,  however,  sought  to  minimize  the  disadvan- 
tages by  increasing  the  number  of  courses.  Instead  of 
giving  the  pupil  four  roads  from  which  to  select  his 
destined  way,  schools  offered  him  a  choice  among  five, 
six,  seven  —  yes,  in  some  instances  as  many  as  eleven, 
twelve,  or  thirteen' —  different  routes,  whereas  the  diffi- 
culty lay  not  in  the  ntunber  of  courses  but  in  the  fact  that 
the  inexperienced  youth  was  not  capable  of  tmerringly 
selecting  any  course  that  guaranteed  no  need  of  later 
revision.  Indeed,  the  multiplicity  of  choices  tended  more 
to  confusion  than  to  clarity.  What  was  really  needed 
was  a  training  in  choice  before  the  pupil  entered  the  high 
school,  or  at  least  an  opportunity  to  correct  a  wrong 
choice  as  soon  as  the  discovery  was  made. 

1  Ann  Arbor,  for  example,  offered  the  following  courses  in  1874:  (1)  Classical; 
(2)  Latin;  (3)  Scientific;  (4)  English;  (s)  French  and  Science;  (6)  German  and 
Science;  (7)  Latin  and  German;  (8)  German;  (9)  Commercial.  {Principal's 
Report  to  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  1874.  pp.  255  #.)  Grand  Rapids  as 
late  as  1897  offered  eleven  courses  as  follows:  (i)  Commercial-English;  (2)  Pre- 
paratory English;  (3)  French-English;  (4)  Short  German-English;  (s)  German- 
English;  (6)  Engineering;  (7)  Scientific;  (8)  Latin-German;  (9)  French-German; 
(10)  Classical;  (li)  English-Scientific.  Pupils,  however,  at  this  date  were  not  held 
rigidly  to  a  suggested  course.  {Report  of  Board  of  Education,  1896,  p.  178;  1897, 
pp.  82  and  85.)  The  writer  himself  recalls  having  visited  a  school — Charlevoix — 
as  late  as  1906  in  whose  catalogue  thirteen  courses  were  printed,  and  these  were 
expected  to  be  followed  closely  in  practice. 


The  High-School  Era  209 

The  making  of  courses  of  study  had  reac'hed  such  a 
stage  that  it  required  a  master  to  conceive  them,  and  a 
past-master  to  interpret  and  apply  them.  Indeed,  the 
situation  had  become  humorous  and  ludicrous,  and  the 
idea  began  to  crumble  before  the  ridicule  hurled  at  it. 

Meanwhile,  as  at  the  university,  there  was  creeping 
into  high  schools,  here  and  there,  the  principle  of  free 
election  of  studies.  As  a  rule  every  pupil  in  the  earlier 
high  schools  was  expected  to  carry  simultaneously  three 
separate  branches,  but  strong,  capable,  and  ambitious 
students  were  frequently  permitted  to  pursue  addi- 
tional subjects  lying  outside  the  scope  of  the  regular 
printed  course.  Particularly  was  this  true  in  respect 
to  the  election  of  a  foreign  language.^ 

Nevertheless  it  was  the  "regular  course"  and  the  "reg- 
ular student"  that  received  the  greatest  moral  support 
and  encouragement  of  the  school.  As  late  even  as  1898, 
when  there  were  enrolled  in  the  three  high  schools  of 
Detroit  3,496  pupils,  only  118  were  "special  students," 
or  students  not  following  definite  courses.^ 

In  1874,  out  of  a  selected  list  of  twenty-eight  state 
high  schools  not  one  permitted  a  pupil  to  break  over  the 
boundaries  of  his  elected  course  of  study.^  Two  years 
later,  however,  East  Saginaw  reported  having  introduced 
the  principle  of  a  partial  election  of  studies,  and  found 
that  the  idea  "popularizes  without  destroying  efficiency."^ 

All  thoughtful  educators  seemed  to  have  appreciated 
the  need  for  greater  flexibility,  but  no  one  was  sufficiently 

1  For  example,  the  catalogue  of  the  Detroit  School  Board  for  1879  (p.  82) 
declares  that  "a  partial  course"  may  be  taken  by  a  student,  but  that  no  certificate 
of  graduation  will  be  given  for  work  thus  done.  The  report  further  states  that 
"Pupils  of  the  English  Course  may  take  Latin,  German  or  French  as  an  extra  study, 
as  long  as  they  do  good  work  in  all  their  studies." 

2  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education,  1898,  p.  128. 

3  Statistics  compiled  by  Superintendent  J.  C.  Jones  of  Pontiac,  and  quoted  in 
Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Education,  1874,  p.  370. 

*  School  report  to  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  1876,  p.  328.  The  plan 
was,  of  course,  free  election  in  a  limited  sense  only. 


15 


I 


2IO  Public  Secondary  Education 

convinced,  or  sufficiently  bold,  to  propose  a  complete 
abandonment  of  the  idea  of  prescribed  courses.  Not 
imtil  the  late  nineties  does  the  idea  of  free  elections  by 
individual  pupils  seem  to  have  been  voiced  before  the 
pubHc  as  the  best  means  of  remedying  the  difficulties. 
In  1898  Professor  A.  S.  Whitney,^  in  a  paper  read  before 
the  State  Teachers'  Association,  advocated  the  abolition 
of  all  set  courses  in  the  high  school  and  the  substitution 
therefor  of  two  intensely  flexible  courses  styled  by  him 
the  "fitting"  and  the  "finishing"  courses,  or  the  college- 
preparatory  course  and  the  non-college-preparatory 
course.^ 

Shortly  after  this  date  the  leading  schools  of  the  state 
began  avowedly  to  organize  and  operate  their  work  on 
this  basis,  modifying  the  principle  in  such  details  of 
application  as  seemed  wise  for  local  needs.  This  is  the 
situation  to-day,  and  this  is  the  working  plan  of  the 
majority  of  the  schools  of  the  state. 

The  second  notable  innovation  inaugurated  by  the 
university  and  wonderfully  affecting  the  high  schools  was 
the  plan  of  receiving  pupils  for  admission  upon  the  pres- 
entation of  certificates  of  graduation  from  approved 
secondary  schools  and  without  any  individual  examina- 
tion. Coupled  with  this  plan  should  be  considered  also 
the  influence  exerted  by  the  university  upon  the  standards 
of  scholarship  foimd  or  demanded  in  the  high  schools. 

As  already  mentioned  in  earlier  chapters  of  this  work, 
the  scope  of  the  subject-matter,  and  probably  the  quality 
of  the  instruction,  in  all  the  earlier  colleges  and  uni- 
versities was,  aside  from  the  classics,  of  a  general  and 
elementary   character.     This   was   equally   true   of  the 

1  At  that  time  Mr.  Whitney  was  Superintendent  of  Schools  in  East  Saginaw. 

2  This  paper,  styled  "Flexibility  of  the  High  School  Course,"  is  reported  in  full 
in  the  Reports  of  the  State  Teachers'  Association,  and  is  to  be  found  in  Report  oj 
the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  1898,  pp.  180  #. 


The  High-School  Era  211 

University  of  Michigan.  Entrance  requirements,  aside 
from  a  knowledge  of  the  classical  languages,  were  nomi- 
nal. Graduation  standards  were  not  high.  Material 
prosperity,  however,  gave  confidence,  and  with  this 
came  a  boldness  in  advancing  scholastic  standards.  Pre- 
admission attainments  and  post-admission  demands  were 
set  at  a  higher  scale.  The  result  was  that  high  schools, 
too,  advanced  with  equal  step.  Not  only  is  this 
true  with  respect  to  subjects  directly  preparatory  for 
college,  but  the  influence  sympathetically  and  reflex- 
ively  was  carried  over  into  the  non-college-preparatory 
courses. 

When  the  imion  schools  first  arose  there  was,  as  we 
have  seen,  little  uniformity  among  them  —  either  in 
their  details  of  organization,  their  programs  of  study,  or 
the  order  of  presentation  of  instruction.  Schools  were 
divided  into  grades  to  meet  local  convenience  or  the 
theories  of  the  local  officials.  As  new  subject-matter 
was  added  new  grades  were  organized  to  encompass  it. 
In  time  imion  schools  with  fifteen  grades  were  not  im- 
common.  These,  as  we  have  seen,  VN^ere  divided  into 
what  was  equivalent  to  the  first  primary,  second  primary, 
intermediate,  grammar,  and  high-school  departments, 
each  containing  two  or  more  grades  organized  to  cover 
two  or  more  years  of  study.  The  high-school  depart- 
ment was  almost  always  divided  into  three  grades  only, 
though  in  some  instances,  even  at  the  outset,  it  was 
planned  to  cover  four  or  even  five  years'  work.  The 
school  year  of  from  thirty-six  to  forty-five  weeks  was 
divided  into  three  terms,  and  subjects  of  instruction  were 
fitted  into  these  terms  according  to  local  desires. 

Not  infrequently  one  finds  in  the  early  high  schools 
the  Classical  Course  planned  for  the  longer  period,  while 
the  EngHsh  Course  was  drawn  to  cover  only  two  or  three 


212  Public  Secondary  Education 

years'  time  ^  —  a  fact  that  reveals  the  inferior  rank 
accorded  the  mere  "practical"  subjects  in  those  days. 
Indeed,  about  this  time  there  seems  to  have  been  at  the 
university  an  ambition  to  shape  the  whole  system  of 
education  in  Michigan  on  the  German  model.  The  high 
schools,  it  was  hoped,  would  develop  into  gymnasien,  and 
the  university  would  then  be  able  gradually  to  shift 
the  undergraduate  or  college  work  from  the  one  cen- 
tral institution  to  the  various  secondary  schools, ,  and 
thus  leave  opportunity  to  herself  to  devote  her  time  and 
efforts  exclusively  to  graduate  or  research  study.  Presi- 
dent Frieze  in  his  report  for  1870  expressly  voiced  this  wish 
and  hope.  After  noting  the  fact  that  the  requirements 
for  admission  to  the  university  were  much  more  exacting 
than  they  had  been  fifteen  years  before,  he  adds:  "I 
cannot  but  think  that  there  are  existing  in  the  state  the 
conditions  which,  seized  upon  now  and  carefully  watched 
and  improved  will,  in  the  end,  develop  the  gymnasium 
in  its  proper  place  and  secure  to  us  the  true  University. - 
One  public  high  school  of  this  state,  at  the  close  of  the 
present  year,  has  sent  into  our  Academic  Department  a 
class  of  thirty-five  students,  well  prepared.  The  high 
schools  of  the  state,  in  general,  are  yearly  coming  into 
more  intimate  relations  to  the  University,  and  sending 
increasing  numibers  to  its  halls.  "^ 

1  In  Grand  Rapids  in  1859  the  English  Course  was  three  years  in  length;  the 
Classical,  five.  (Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  1859.  P-  99-)  At 
the  same  time  Jackson  devoted  three  years  to  each  course.  {Ibid.,  p.  121.)  Mar- 
shall, on  the  other  hand,  gave  four  years  to  the  English  Course  and  three  to  the 
Classical.  {Ibid.,  p.  144.)  Monroe  had  a  "Primary  Department"  of  three  years, 
a  "Junior  Department"  of  six  years,  and  an  "Academical  Department"  of  five 
years — that  is,  fourteen  years  all  told.     {Ibid.,  p.  151.) 

2  The  German  influence  on  the  high  schools  of  Michigan  was  perhaps  best  seen 
in  the  organization  at  Monroe.  Here  there  were  fourteen  years'  work  laid  out  and 
grades  were  numbered  in  reverse  order  to  the  common  American  plan,  that  is,  the 
most  elementary  grade  was  called  the  ninth  grade,  the  next  one  above,  the  eighth 
grade,  and  so  on  up  to  the  academic  department.  The  lowest  grade  of  this  depart- 
ment was  styled  the  "E  Class,"  the  next  above  the  "D  Class,"  and  thence  on 
through  the  "C  Class."  "B  Class,"  and  "A  Class."  The  last,  the  "A  Class,"  was 
the  graduating  class  of  the  high  school.  (Report  of  the  school  in  Repott  of  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction,  1859^  pp.  151  ff.) 

3  President's  Report,  1870,  p.  208. 


The  High-School  Era  213 

In  this  same  report  President  Frieze  also  mentions  the 
fact  that  certain  educators,  within  and  without  the 
university,  had  suggested  a  way  of  bringing  the  high 
schools  into  closer  relations  to  that  institution  by  means 
of  "a  Commission  of  Examiners  from  the  Academic 
Faculty"  which  "should  visit  annually  such  schools  as 
may  desire  it  and  give  certificates  to  those  pupils  who 
may  be  successful  in  their  examinations,  entitling  them 
to  admission,  without  further  examination,  to  the  Uni- 
versity."^ 

Later  in  the  same  year  President  Angell  in  his  inaugiiral 
address  voiced  similar  views.  "The  time  is  not  far  dis- 
tant," said  he,  "when  the  better  and  stronger  institutions 
can  safely  push  up  their  requirements  for  admission  to 
the  standard  now  reached  at  the  beginning  of  the  Sopho- 
more year,  and  I  am  confident  that  the  day  is  not  remote 
when  they  can  secure  yet  higher  attainments."  ^ 

President  Angell  then  suggested  that  the  high  schools 
take  over  instruction  in  mathematics  at  least  up  to  trigo- 
nometry, and  that  the  elements  of  physiology,  botany, 
physics,  French,  and  a  year  or  more  of  Latin  be  given  in 
every  one  of  the  stronger  schools. 

The  next  year,  187 1,  these  ideas  had  begun  to  be  put 
into  effect  by  the  university.,  A  year  of  French  was 
required  for  admission  to  the  Latin-Scientific  Course. 
In  1872  one  year  of  French  and  an  elementary  knowledge 
of  natural  philosophy,  botany,  zoology,  and  geology  were 
required  for  admission  to  the  Scientific  Course.  In  1874 
an  additional  year  of  Latin  was  required  for  admission 
to  the  Classical  Course.^  Still  later,  other  demands  were 
added.     For  example,  in  1889  physics  and  botany  were 

1  Ibid.,  p.  209. 

2  Inaugural    address.    Report  of  Superintendent  of   Public    Instruction,     1871, 
pp.    214  #. 

3  President's  Report,  1872,  p.  180. 


214  Public  Secondary  Education 

made  preparatory  subjects  for  admission  to  the  courses 
leading  to  the  A.B.  and  the  Ph.B.  degrees;  and  three 
sciences,  or  in  Heu  thereof  a  knowledge  of  French  and 
German,  were  demanded  for  a.dmission  to  the  course 
leading  to  the  B.L.  degree. 

Necessarily,  and  as  one  would  expect,  those  require- 
ments of  admission  to  the  university  were  followed  by  a 
revision  of  the  courses  of  study  in  the  high  schools, 
though  it  is  true  some  school  boards  objected  to  what 
they  were  pleased  to  call  the  "dictation"  from  the  uni- 
versity and  refused  to  comply  with  the  conditions  that 
would  enable  their  youth  to  prepare  themselves  to  enter 
the  university.^ 

Many  high  schools  in  fact  found  themselves  between 
two  forces  and  were  violently  pulled  in  opposite  directions 
at  the  same  time.  The  narrowly  prescribed  courses  often 
met  local  needs  very  ineffectively.  There  was  a  de- 
mand for  more  liberality  and  for  more  popular  and 
practical  subjects.  Despite  the  efforts  of  teachers  and 
officials,  proportionally  few  pupils  who  entered  the  high 
schools  remained  to  graduate.  In  1874,  Grand  Rapids, 
for  example,  reduced  the  high-school  course  from  iour 
years  to  three  years  expressly  to  meet  this  difficulty  and 
to  encoiu-age  pupils  to  aspire  to  a  diploma.^  Other  schools 
acted  in  a  similar  way,  and  nearly  all  made  efforts  to 
minimize  the  faults  by  increasing  and  popularizing  the 
courses  of  study. 

Just  at  this  juncture,  it  will  be  recalled,  the  new  demands 
from  the  university  were  forcing  additional  burdens  upon 
schools  that  still  aimed  to  be  preparatory  schools.  The 
cry  went  up  that  the  pupils  were  overtaxed;  that  the 

1  Report  of  the  Board  of  Visitors  to  the  University  in  1872,  Report  of  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction,  1872,  p.  195. 

2  Report  of  the  school  for  1874.  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
p.  260. 


The  High-School  Era  215 

program  of  studies  was  overcrowded;  that  the  courses 
were  not  sufficiently  extended  to  enable  the  work  to  be 
done  properly  and  without  injury  to  the  pupils.  To  the 
plan  for  decreasing  the  length  of  the  course  to  encourage 
graduation,  and  hence  to  secure  for  more  pupils  at  least 
three  years  of  academic  training,  was  now  opposed  the 
idea  of  increasing  the  allotted  time  in  order  to  relieve  the 
overburdening  and  to  meet  the  university  requirements. 
As  was  to  be  expected,  both  parties  won  certain  temporary 
victories,  but  the  ultimate  outcome  was  an  advance  in  the 
standards  of  scholarship,  and  hence  a  imiform  increase  in 
the  length  of  the  high-school  course  to  four  years.^ 

The  standard  school  period  was  now  one  of  twelve 
years  and  twelve  grades.  In  1877  1^0  school  reported 
more  than  twelve  grades,  though  communities  not  being 
able  or  not  finding  it  expedient  to  support  a  four-year 
high-school  course  naturally  stopped  short  at  the  ninth, 
tenth,  or  eleventh  grade.^  On  the  other  hand,  not  a  few 
of  the  better  schools  of  the  state  began  to  furnish  post- 
graduate work  for  such  students  as  cared  to  return  to  the 
high  school  after  having  taken  a  diploma  at  the  end  of 
the  regular  four  years'  course.     For  the  most  part  these 

1  Ann  Arbor,  for  example,  in  1874  took  steps  to  make  her  high-school  course 
four  years  instead  of  three.  Battle  Creek  had  already  done  this  three  years 
before,  in  1871.  {Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  1875,  p.  325.) 
In  1876  Saginaw  reported  that  their  course  of  study  had,  during  the  past  five  years, 
been  gradually  reduced  from  fifteen  years  to  twelve  years.  (Report,  1876,  p.  269.) 
Niles  the  same  year  mcreased  the  high-schoo'  course  from  three  years  to  four  by 
transferring  one  year  of  the  grammar  grades  to  the  high  school.  (Ibid.,  p.  308.) 
Flint  reported  a  full  four  years'  high-school  course  of  four  parallel  courses  of  study. 
(Ibid.,  p.  274.)  Business  courses  also  began  to  appear  about  this  time,  Grand 
Rapids  establishing  one  m  1875.     (Report,  1875,  p.  355.) 

The  superintendent  of  the  Adrian  schools,  Mr.  Payne,  in  his  report  for  1875 
emphatically  declared  that  "the  settled  line  of  policy"  of  their  school  was  "to 
provide  that  kind  of  instruction  which  will  best  meet  the  wants  of  the  community. 
Public  opinion  in  this  community  at  this  time  is  unmistakably  in  favor  of  that  class 
of  studies  embraced  in  the  Continental  real-schule — Latin,  History,  Mathematics 
and  Natural  Science — and  hence  the  organization  of  our  High  School  is  therefore 
on  this  basis."  (Report  of  1875,  p.  304.)  The  Classical  Course  was  therefore 
abolished  at  Adrian  at  this  time. 

2  In  1877  there  were  721  schools  having  twelve  grades;  1,108  having  eleven 
grades;  1,659  having  ten  grades;  and  2,364  having  nine  grades.  The  total  number 
of  schools  offering  more  than  merely  eight  grades  of  work  thus  was  5,852.  (Report, 
1877,  p.  8.)     Of  course  few  of  these  possessed  real  high  schools. 


2i6  Public  Secondary  Education 

pupils  included  those  who  desired  to  seaire  a  cultural 
knowledge  of  subjects  not  regularly  found  in  their  chosen 
course,  those  who  were  eager  to  prepare  themselves  better 
in  practical  subjects  or  for  positions  as  teachers,  and 
those  who  sought  to  fit  themselves  more  thoroughly  for 
admission  to  college  or  who  hoped  to  seciu-e  for  this 
extra  work  advanced  credit  from  the  college  authorities. 
The  University  of  Michigan  has  always  recognized  and 
encouraged  this  work  of  supererogation  and  has  allowed 
definite  imiversity  credit  therefor. ^  Hence  many  a  student 
has  been  able  to  shorten  his  college  course  by  one  full 
year  or  more,  thus  bringing  to  pass,  in  a  measure.  Dr. 
Frieze's  and  Dr.  Angell's  wishes,  uttered  forty  years  ago. 

Somewhat  later,  in  1891,  Dr.  Angell  in  his  annual 
report  says,  apropos  of  this  question:  "It  is  gratifying 
to  hear  that  some  of  the  schools  of  Michigan  think  they 
can  do  the  most  or  whole  of  the  work  of  otir  first  year, 
and  can  send  their  students  prepared  to  take  up  the  studies 
of  our  second  year.  We  should  be  only  too  glad  to  be 
relieved  altogether  of  our  first  year's  work,  and  we  desire 
to  encourage  the  schools  in  their  praiseworthy  efforts  to 
carry  their  pupils  farther  than  they  have  done  heretofore, 
provided  they  do  not  diminish  the  thoroughness  of. the 
more  elementary  work."^  About  this  same  period  — 
between  1870  and  1880  —  the  trimestrial  division  of  the 
school  year  was  largely  abandoned,  and,  following  the 
example  of  the  imiversity,  the  semestrial  plan  was 
substituted    in    its    place. 

Meanwhile  the  entente  of  the  imiversity  and  the  high 
schools  was  becoming  firmer  and  closer  through  the 
operation  of  the  idea  of  "affiliation."     This  plan  was  first 

1  In  1876  Detroit,  for  example,  had  five  regular  high-school  grades,  and  in 
addition,  a  post-graduate  grade.  This  last  contained  at  that  time  twenty-nine 
students.      (Principals'  Report  of  1876,  p.  262.) 

2  President  Angell's  annual  report,  1891,  p.  88.  in  State  Reports  of  that  year. 


The  High-School  Era  217 

put  into  effect  in  187 1.  Under  the  earliest  arrangements 
a  committee  of  the  Literary  Faculty  —  a  committee  of 
one,  two,  or  three  members  usually  —  visited,  upon 
request,  any  high  school  whose  program  of  studies  was 
sufficiently  comprehensive  in  scope  to  fit  pupils  for  admis- 
sion to  all  of  the  courses  offered  in  the  university.  If, 
after  a  personal  inspection  of  the  school,  the  committee 
was  satisfied  with  the  organization,  teaching  staff,  equip- 
ment, and  the  general  work  done,  and  was  convinced  that 
its  graduates  could  satisfactorily  piirsue  work  in  the 
university,  such  graduates,  if  recommended  by  the 
high-school  principal  or  by  the  superintendent,  were 
admitted  directly  to  the  freshman  class  in  the  university 
without  further  examination. 

The  plan  was  immiensely  popular  from  the  start. 
The  very  first  year  fifty  candidates  were  thus  admitted. ^ 
Each  succeeding  year  brought  additional  requests  from 
the  high  schools  soliciting  a  visit  of  inspection,  and  each 
year  brought  increased  numibers  into  the  imiversity 
through  this  door.  The  university  authorities  approved 
the  idea,  for  it  almost  guaranteed  large  entering  classes. 
It  also  did  away,  in  a  measure,  with  the  delay  and  tedium 
incident  to  the  formal  examinations  held  at  the  beginning 
of  each  college  year.  The  plan  was,  too,  regarded  as  a 
safer,  surer,  and  saner  test  of  a  pupil's  ability  than  was 
any  short,  formal,  and  chance  examination.  Moreover, 
the  scheme  enabled  members  of  the  faculty  to  come  into 
personal  contact  with  the  constituency  of  the  university, 
and  thus  better  to  know  the  public  sentiments  and  needs ; 
and,  in  consequence,  permitted  them  to  adapt  their 
work  more  justly  to  social  ends. 

The  high-school  authorities  supported  the  plan,  since 

iThese  came  from  six  schools  as  follows:  three  from  Detroit,  eight  from  Flint, 
seven  from  Jackson,  three  from  Kalamazoo,  one  from  Adrian,  and  twenty-eight 
from  Ann  Arbor.     {President's  Report,  1872,  p.  181.) 


2i8  Public  Secondary  Education 

"affiliation"  brought  the  school  thus  recognized  into 
dignity  and  prominence  in  the  state,  reflected  honor 
upon  its  teachers  and  officials,  and  attracted  to  its  halls 
in  turn  a  larger  proportion  of  the  youth  of  the  community. 
The  pupils  preparing  for  college  also  naturally  applauded 
the  plan  as  it  saved  them  the  ordeal  —  often  a  nerve- 
racking  and  dangerous  ordeal  —  of  undergoing  the  burden 
of  a  dozen  or  more  examinations  crowded  into  one  week, 
conducted  at  a  distance  from  their  homes,  before  a  strange, 
and  therefore  av/e-inspiring  and  intimidating,  body  of 
examiners. 

In  fact,  few  persons  in  the  state  could  be  found  to  oppose 
the  scheme,  and,  after  an  experience  of  nearly  forty  years, 
none,  apparently,  who  would  abandon  it.^  Nearly  every 
report  of  President  Angell  for  the  subsequent  ten  or  a 
dozen  years  contains  a  paragraph  extolling  the  merits 
of  the  system  as  seen  in  practice,  and  expressing  his 
gratitude  for  the  cordial  and  generous  cooperation  given 
to  this  matter  by  the  schools  and  the  officials  and  teachers 
of  the  state. 

Gratifying,  too,  was  the  fact  that  the  standard  of  work 
and  of  deportment  maintained  by  the  students  thus 
admitted  to  the  university  was,  on  the  whole,  superior 
to  that  of  pupils  admitted  on  examination.  There  were 
fewer  "failures"  and  fewer  "conditions"  among  the 
certificated    students    than    among    the    others.^ 

In  1876  the  accrediting  system  underwent  another 
change,  made  in  the  interest  of  the  high  schools  and  the 
public.  Up  to  that  year  no  student  was  admitted  to  the 
university  without  exarnination,  unless  the  high  school 
from  which  he  graduated  was  organized  and  equipped  to 

1  There  is  now  and  then  heard  a  criticism  of  the  plan,  but  it  is  a  criticism  directed 
against  the  careless  application  of  the  principle  rather  than  against  the  principle 
itself. 

2 President' s  Report,  1872,  pp.  181  ff.    Later  reports  also  substantiate  this  claim. 


The  High-School  Era  219 

prepare  pupils  simultaneously  for  admission  to  all  the 
vmdergraduate  courses.  As  already  seen,  many  high 
schools  felt  indisposed  to  attempt  to  meet  these  require- 
ments. The  Classical  Course,  requiring  both  Latin  and 
Greek,  seemed  everywhere  to  be  on  the  wane.  Few  high 
schools  could  or  would  therefore  support  this  course. 
Few — very  few — pupils  in  the  smaller  cities  and  towns 
cared  to  pursue  the  study  of  Greek,  and  it  was  a  burden 
to  the  taxpayers  to  continue  classes  in  this  subject  for 
one,  or  two,  or  three  pupils.  In  the  year  mentioned  the 
imiversity  recognized  the  justness  of  this  attitude  and 
thereupon  granted  limited  certificate  privileges  to  those 
high  schools  that  were  found  fitted  to  prepare  students 
for  admission  to  any  one  course  in  the  university.  This 
change  encouraged  small  schools  to  do  well  the  work  in  a 
limited  field  rather  than  to  attempt  too  much  and  run 
the  risk  of  doing  all  superficially  and  ineffectively.  This 
provision  in  consequence  added  a  nimiber  of  high  schools 
to  the  university  approved  list  and  stimulated  others  to 
reach  out  for  similar  honors.^ 

When  still  later  the  principle  of  free  individual  election 
of  studies  came  into  common  usage, ^  still  greater  freedom 
was  granted  to  the  high  schools.  Then  pupils'  admission 
to  the  university  was  determined  not  by  any  absolutely 

iln  1880,  as  we  have  seen,  there  were  four  courses  in  the  Literary  Department 
of  the  university.  That  year  there  were,  all  told,  sixteen  high  schools  of  the  state 
on  the  affiliated  list.     (President's  Report,  1880,  p.  112.) 

Superintendent  J.  C.  Jones  of  Pontiac  in  his  report  for  1874  summed  up  the 
advantages  of  the  accrediting  system,  as  he  conceived  them,  as  follows:  (i)  It  had 
intensified,  deepened,  and  dignified  the  work  of  the  high  schools.  (2)  It  had  led 
to  conversation  about  the  university  and  had  therefore  set  more  youths  toward 
a  college  career.  (3)  It  had  stimulated  parental  pride  in  the  high  schools.  (4)  It 
had  benefited  the  pupils  physically  and  mentally  by  removing  the  dread  of  exam- 
inations, (s)  It  had  held  more  pupils  in  the  high  schools  until  graduation  and 
had  caused  more  of  them  to  go  on  to  callings  of  leadership  and  dignity.  (6j  It 
had  tended  to  bring  a  uniformity  to  the  programs  of  study.  (7)  It  had  prevented 
poorly  prepared  pupils  getting  into  college  on  the  chance  passing  of  the  examination. 
(8)  It  had  stimulated  the  teachers  to  do  their  best.  (Paper  read  before  the  State 
Teachers'  Association  at  Kalamazoo.) 

2  In  May,  1900,  the  university  voted  to  abolish  all  fixed  courses,  to  adopt  the 
principle  of  absolutely  free  election  of  subject-matter  (save  English),  and  to  grant 
but  one  bachelor's  degree  in  the  Literary  Department,  namely  Bachelor  of  Arts, 
given  on  the  completion  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  semester  hours'  work. 


220  Public  Secondary  Education 

uniform  standard,  but  each  one's  case  was  judged  upon 
its  merits.  Since,  moreover,  only  two  years'  preparation 
in  any  one  foreign  language  was  then  made  the  maximum 
foreign-language  requirement  for  admission  to  the  uni- 
versity, many  new  schools  were  in  a  position  to  aspire 
to  the  honor  of  affiliation.  Indeed,  there  were  few  schools 
in  the  state  which  offered  a  full  four  years'  high-school 
course  that  could  not  nominally  fulfill  this  linguistic 
requirement.  The  effects  of  this  plan  may  be  judged 
from  the  fact  that  in  1907  out  of  the  285  high  schools 
having  a  four-year  course,  138  were  affiliated  with  the 
imiversity.^ 

As  was  to  be  expected,  the  new  relations  established 
between  the  high  schools  and  the  university  soon  affected 
the  relation  existing  between  the  high  schools  and  the 
grades  below  them.  In  the  earlier  days  admission  to 
the  high  schools  was  possible  only  upon  condition  of 
passing  an  examination  set  by  the  high-school  authorities. 
Usually  this  examination  included  arithmetic,  geography, 
grammar,  reading,  writing,  and  orthography.  In  a  few 
schools  United  States  history  was  required.  Soon,  how- 
ever, just  as  the  leaving  examinations  of  the  high  schools 
served  for  admission  to  the  university,  so  the  examina- 
tions and  recommendations  of  the  eighth-grade  teachers 
became,  in  themselves,  tickets  of  admission  to  the  high 
school.  In  some  schools,  to  be  sure,  this  privilege  was 
slow  to  be  granted,  but  before  1900  the  custom  was 
practically  universal. 

As  we  have  seen  elsewhere,  the  agitation  for  absolutely 
free  public  schools  was  going  on  throughout  the  state 
from  an  early  date.  The  revised  constitution  of  1851 
gave  impetus  to  the  movement,  and  one  by  one  the 
schools  gave  up  the  practice  of  levying  rate  bills.     It  was 

1  Superintendent's  Report,  1907,  pp.  232  #.,  and  p.  10. 


The  High-School  Era  221 

not,  however,  until  1869  that  a  general  law  made  the 
custom  illegal  throughout  the  state.  This  act,  more- 
over, had  application  only  to  the  primary  schools.  Until 
the  decision  in  the  Kalamazoo  case  in  1874,  high  schools 
were  not  indubitably  a  part  of  these.  Since  that  date, 
though,  all  high  schools  have  been  free  to  all  residents  of 
the  district  who  are  of  school  age.^  Residents  not  of  the 
district  in  which  the  high  school  is  located  were  never- 
theless required  to  pay  such  tuition  for  school  privileges 
as  the  school  oflicials  might  levy.  This  practice  worked 
particiilar  hardship  upon  the  country  youth  who  Hved 
in  districts  possessing  no  city  or  village  high  school. 
To  secure  a  high-school  education  such  students  were 
obliged  not  only  to  journey  to  a  neighboring  town  but 
to  pay,  out  of  their  own  pockets,  the  tuition  demanded 
there.  Effort  was  repeatedly  made  to  correct  this  in- 
equality and  injustice,  but  success  did  not  come  until 
after  the  opening  of  the  twentieth  century.  In  1901  a 
permissive  law  was  enacted  authorizing  township  boards 
in  townships  having  no  village  or  city  high  school  to 
establish  a  rural  high  school.^  The  response,  however, 
was  not  as  ready  as  was  expected.^  The  law  provided 
that  manual  training,  domestic  science,  nature  study,  and 
the  elements  of  agriculture  might  be  included  in  the  pro- 
gram of  study,  but  even  with  these  "practical"  subjects 
available,  rural  communities  were  negligent  about  voting 
the  school.  In  1903  a  supplementary  law^  authorized  dis- 
tricts to  vote  a  tax  to  pay  the  tuition  and  the  expense 
of  daily  transportation  of  such  pupils  as  were  prepared 

1  The  school  age  now  is  from  five  years  to  twenty-one  years. 

2  Act  144,  Laws  of  190 1. 

3  The  first  rural  high  school  to  be  erected  under  this  law  was  at  Covert,  in  Van 
Buren  County,  m  1903.  (Report,  1903,  p.  7.)  But  Superintendent  Wright  in 
his  report  of  1907  (p.  20)  declared  that  "this  law  has  been  practically  a  dead 
letter  until  the  year  1907."  At  that  time  Excelsior,  Kalkaska  C9unty,  established 
a  school,  and  two  or  three  other  townships  took  steps  to  do  likewise.  (Report, 
1907.  p.  10.) 

4  Act  190,  Laws  of  1903. 


222  Public  Secondary  Edmation 

and  desirous  of  attending  a  neighboring  high  school, 
but  like  all  permissive  laws  this  was  slow  to  be  adopted. 

In  1909,  however,  the  provisions  of  the  law  of  1903 
respecting  tuition  were  made  mandatory,  and  much 
benefit  has  been  derived  from  their  operation.  ^ 

In  1903  there  was  also  enacted  a  law  providing  that 
county  normal  training  classes  ^  might  be  organized  in 
connection  with  one  selected  high  school  in  each  county. 
This  act  aimed  to  provide  a  body  of  teachers  for  the  rural 
schools,  and  while  the  normal  class  is  separate  and  dis- 
tinct from  the  high  school  proper,  the  requirements  for 
admission  to  this  class  are  such  that  its  estabHshment 
has  great  influence  on  the  high  school.^ 

In  1907,  an  act  authorized  county  schools  of  agriculture 
and  domestic  science.'*  These  are  not  strictly  high  schools 
in  the  commonly  accepted  meaning  of  the  expression. 
Nevertheless  this  type  of  school  requires  for  admission 
previous  graduation  from  an  eighth-grade  course  and  thus 
is  in  fact  a  high  school.  The  work  comprises  two  years, 
but  for  some  imexplained  reasons  rural  peoples  have  not 
taken  kindly  to  the  school.  Up  to  19 15  only  two  such 
schools  had  been  established. 

Just  as  the  fifty  years  after  1859  witnessed  a  grad- 
ual development  of  greater  or  less  imiformity  in  the  organ- 
ization of  the  high  schools  of  the  state,  the  elevation 

1  Act  37,  Laws  of  1909.  The  law  gives  parents  of  children  who  have  com- 
pleted the  eighth-grade  studies  the  right  to  select  any  one  of  the  three  nearest 
high  schools  and  to  send  their  children  thereto.  The  district  is  then  required  to 
vote  the  tuition  and  may  vote  the  transportation.  Further  .amendments  were 
made  to  the  law  in  igii  and  1913.  so  that  to-day  a  country  boy  or  girl  has  approx- 
imately the  same  legal  opportunities  for  a  high-school  education  as  the  town  or  city 
youth. 

2  Act  241,  Laws  of  1903. 

3  The  course  is  one  or  two  years  in  length.  The  one-year  course  is  open  to 
(a)  graduates  of  the  tenth  grade  in  any  high  school;  (6)  holders  of  a  second-grade 
certificate;  or  persons  who  have  taught  two  years  in  any  public  school.  The 
second  year  is  open  to  (a)  those  having  passed  the  first  year's  work;  (6)  graduates 
of  a  four-year  high  school;  or  persons  holding  a  first-grade  certificate.  (.Report, 
1903.  p.  39.)  In  1907  thirty-two  such  classes  had  been  formed.  In  1915  the 
number  had  grown  to  forty-five. 

*  Act  35,  Laws  of  1907. 


The  High-School  Era  223 

of  the  standards  of  scholarship,  and  the  increased  flexi- 
bility in  the  courses  of  study,  so  did  they  produce  a 
marked  change  in  the  scope  and  content  of  the  school 
program.  Before  1849,  as  we  have  seen,  the  old,  narrow, 
classical  ciuriculum  had  given  place,  to  a  large  extent, 
to  scientific  branches.  Indeed,  as  one  studies  the  pro- 
grams of  the  middle  period  of  the  century  one  is  inclined 
to  think  that  there  was  an  excess  of  zeal  in  this  respect. 
The  old  curricula  had  demanded  from  three  to  five  years' 
work  in  Latin  and  two  or  three  in  Greek.  The  new 
curricula  seemed  to  think  that  equality  could  not  be 
demonstrated  imless  a  like  period  of  time  was  devoted 
to  science.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  one  course  or  partial 
course  was  at  that  time  sufficiently  long  to  exhaust  the 
knowledge  of  the  subject,  and  since  the  idea  of  laboratory 
experiments  had  scarcely  taken  form  in  college  courses, 
to  say  nothing  of  high-school  science  work,  the  efforts 
that  to-day  are  usually  concentrated  on  two  or  foiir  sci- 
entific branches  were  then  spread  over  the  whole  field. 
The  result  was  an  elementary  and  hence  superficial 
knowledge  of  six  or  seven  sciences.  Those  most  com- 
monly foimd  in  the  better  and  larger  schools  included 
physiology,  physical  geography,  botany,  zoology,  astron- 
omy, chemistry,  natural  philosophy,  and  geology.  Each 
usually  covered  not  more  than  two  terms'  work. 

While  thus,  at  this  early  time,  science  and  the  classics 
were  jealously  jostling  each  other  for  advantages  in  the 
curriculimi,  there  was  little  or  no  attention  given  to  cer- 
tain other  subjects  which  to-day  hold  an  honored  place 
in  the  schools.  The  study  of  English,  for  example,  con- 
sisted of  scarcely  more  than  a  term  or  two  of  formal 
grammar  and  exercises  in  analysis  of  words  and  parsing. 
The  rich  fields  of  literature  lay  unexplored  and  almost 
tmknown.     Now  and  then  the  elements  of  rhetoric  were 


224  Public  Secondary  Education 

studied,  but  the  approach  was  deductive  and  yielded 
impoverished  results. 

In  the  sphere  of  history  one  or  two  courses,  covering 
two  terms  and  intended  chiefly  to  aid  the  classical  student, 
constituted,  for  the  most  part,  the  entire  offering.  The 
course  was  styled  "General  History,"  but  it  began  with 
the  Greeks  and  ended  with  the  Romans,  with  brief  — 
very  brief  —  mention  of  world-facts  lying  outside  this 
compass.  The  study  of  American  history  was  practically 
unheard  of  in  1859. 

Modern  foreign-language  study  was  just  beginning  to 
receive  respectful  recognition,  but  was  still  confined  to 
the  larger  and  more  progressive  schools.  The  classics 
and  the  sciences,  with  some  mathematics,  virtually  pre- 
empted the  entire  high-school  field  fifty  years  ago,  and 
left  only  the  interstices  for  other  branches.  Then  came 
a  change  —  almost  a  revolution. 

Although  there  was  a  semblance  of  likeness  in  the  larger 
features  of  the  high-school  curricula,  there  was  no  close 
unifonnity  even  here.  Each  school  program  shows  in- 
dividual characteristics.  Perhaps  a  typical  one  is  the 
following.  It  is  the  program  of  studies  for  the  Grand 
Rapids  High  School  for  1862.  It  is  divided  into  two 
courses,  namely,  the  English  Course  of  three  years'  dura- 
tion and  the  Classical  Course  of  five  years.  The  year 
was  divided  into  three  terms. 

The  Program  of  Studies  for  the  Grand  Rapids 
High  School  for  the  Year  1862I 

ENGLISH  COURSE 

YEAR     TERM 

(  1st     Arithmetic,  Physiology,  Ancient  History. 
I  2d      Algebra,  Physical  Geography,  Modern  History,  Analysis 
.1  of  English  Language. 

I  3d      Algebra,  Botany,  Zoology,  Analysis  and  Parsing. 
1  School  report  for  1862  in  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction.  1862, 
pp.  99  jf. 


The  High-School  Era 


225 


YEAR  TERM  ENGLISH  COURSE — continued 

I  1st     Geometry,  Botany,  Zoology,  Astronomy, 
2    s  2d      Geometry,  Higher  Algebra,  Chemistry,  Astronomy. 
(  3d      Higher  Algebra,  Chemistry,  Geology,  Natural  Philosophy. 

1st     Trigonometry,  Geology,  Mental  Philosophy  and  Logic, 

Rhetoric. 
2d      Mental  Philosophy,  Rhetoric,  Household  Science,  Ancient 

Geography. 
3d      Household  Science,  Civil  Government,  Moral  Philosophy, 

Reviews. 


3   { 


I 


CLASSICAL   COURSE 


YEAR     TERM 


I      < 


1st     Latin  Grammar,  Higher  Arithmetic,  Physiology. 

2d      Latin  Reader,  Elementary  Algebra,  Modern  History. 

3d     Latin  Reader,  Elementary  Algebra,  Botanv 


If  1st     Latin  Reader,  Botany,  English  Analysis  and  Parsing. 
2d      Sallust,  Chemistry,  Physical  Geography. 
3d      Sallust,  Chemistry,  Zoology. 

(  1st  Sallust,  Ancient  History,  Geometry. 

2d  Vergil,  Higher  Algebra,  Geometry,  Rhetoric. 

I  3d  Vergil,  Greek  Grammar,  Higher  Algebra,  Natural  Philos- 

[  ophy. 

1st     Vergil,    Greek    Grammar    and    Reader,    Trigonometry, 
Astronomy. 

4  ^  2d     Cicero,  Latin  Prose  Composition,  Greek  Grammar  and 
Reader,  Astronomy. 

3d     Cicero,  Latin  Prose  Composition,  Xenophon,  Geology. 

I  1st     Livy,  Anabasis,  Mental  Philosophy  and  Logic,  Geology. 

5  I  2d      Tacitus,  Homer,  Household  Science,  Mental  Philosophy. 
I  3d     Horace,  Homer,  Household  Science,  Moral  Philosophy. 

One  notes  in  this  program  illustrations  of  the  general 
assertions  just  made  respecting  the  disproportionate 
emphasis  on  certain  branches,  and  the  total  or  large  neg- 
lect of  others.  Here  are  eight  sciences,  and  two  and  one- 
third  years  of  mathematics  in  both  courses.  English 
and  English  literature  are  represented  by  two  terms 


16 


2  26  Public  Secondary  Education 

devoted  to  analysis,  parsing,  and  rhetoric.  History  is 
accorded  an  obscure  place  and  disposed  of  in  two  terms, 
while  modem  foreign-language  study  is  conspicuous  by 
its  entire  absence.  There  are,  from  the  viewpoint  of  the 
present  day,  many  other  serious  faults  of  omission. 
There  are  no  "commercial"  or  business  subjects;  no 
manual  training;  no  political  economy  or  other  social 
science  save  perchance  civil  government.  In  Latin  and 
Greek,  formal  grammar  leads  the  way.  All  coiirses  are 
of  short  duration  and  seemingly  stand  in  no  perfect 
logical  order.  Mental  and  moral  philosophy  still  hold 
their  time-honored  rank. 

A  study  of  other  programs  of  study  reveals  similar 
conditions  throughout  the  state,  the  subject-matter 
varying  with  the  personal  views  of  the  officials  and  with 
the  traditions  of  the  community.^ 

At  about  this  same  time  in  connection  with  many  high 
schools,  there  were  established  so-called  teachers'  depart- 
ments. The  aim  of  these  was  to  give  prospective  teachers 
of  rural  and  city  schools  a  general  review  of  the  subjects 
to  be  taught,  together  with  suggestions  respecting  methods 
of  presentation  and  of  discipHne.  These  departments 
rested  wholly  upon  authorization  of  local  school  boards,  but 
in  1863  the  Superintendent  of  Pubhc  Instruction  declared 
"these  classes  are  now  common  to  most  of  our  high 
schools.  "2  The  following  year  he  urged  the  legislature 
to  give  them  legal  authorization  throughout  the  state.^ 

During  this  early  period  some  little  sentiment  seems  to 
have  arisen  in  favor  of  offering  Latin  in  the  grammar 

IThe  program  at  Monroe  in  1862  included:  (a)  Mathematics:  Written  and 
Mental  Arithmetic,  Algebra,  Geometry,  Trigonometry;  (&)  Science:  Geography, 
Physiology.  Botany,  Physical  Geography,  Natural  Philosophy,  Geology,  Astron- 
omy, Chemistry;  (r)  English:  Grammar,  Rhetoric,  Analysis  of  English  Language; 
(d)  History:  U.S.  History.  English  History,  General  History,  Civics;  (e)  Phi- 
losophy: Mental  and  Moral  Philosophy;  (/)  Language:  Greek,  Latin,  French, 
and  German;  (g)  Book-keeping.     {Report,  1862,  p.  151.) 

2  Report,  1863,  p.  71. 

3  Ibtd.,  1864,  p. 29. 


The  High-School  Era  227 

grades,  for  such  pupils  as  expected  to  continue  through 
the  high  school  and  college,  but  the  idea  received  little 
practical  encouragement.^ 

In  the  meantime,  as  we  have  seen  in  earlier  pages  of  this 
chapter,  the  university  had  not  only  increased  the  num- 
ber of  courses  in  the  Literary  Department,  but  had  insti- 
tuted higher  requirements  for  admission.  It  had  also 
begim  to  allow  some  small  opportunity  for  free  election 
of  studies  in  the  senior  year,  and  had  begiui  to  use  labor- 
atory methods  in  science.  Now  the  high  schools  modified 
their  programs  in  harmony.  In  the  school  reports  for 
1874  nearly  every  high  school  boasted  of  what  then 
seemed  an  adequate  supply  of  school  apparatus,  including 
chemical  and  philosophical  equipment  and  instruments, 
maps,  charts,  and  so  on.  Grand  Rapids  led  the  proces- 
sion with  apparatus  valued  at  twenty  thousand  dollars. 
Detroit  claimed  eight  thousand  dollars  thus  invested. 
The  suppUes  in  other  cities  and  towns  ranged  in  value 
from  zero  to  two  thousand  dollars,  but  in  by  far  the 
larger  number  of  schools  there  was  less  than  five  hundred 
dollars  worth  of  eqmpment  all  told.^ 

Few  schools  possessed  high-school  Hbraries  of  any 
significance. 

Perhaps  the  best  survey  of  the  scope  of  the  work  given 
in  the  high  schools  thirty-five  years  ago  can  be  had  from 
the  following  statistical  reports  collected  and  compiled 
by  Superintendent  J.  C.  Jones  of  Pontiac,  in  1874.^ 

Statistics  from  28  selected  high  schools  in  1874:  Total 
enrollment,  2,748;  average  enrollment  per  school,  98; 
pupils  enrolled  in  different  subjects  as  follows:     Latin, 

1  Ibid.,  p.  ig8. 

2  Reporl,  1874.  Table  C,  p.  Ixv. 

3  The  paper  containing  these  data  was  read  before  the  meeting  of  the  State 
Teachers'  Association  held  at  Kalamazoo  in  that  year,  and  is  printed  in  full  in  the 
records  of  that  society.  It  is  also  found  in  Report  of  Supennlendent  of  Public 
InstrucUon,  1874,  PP.  370  ff.  The  data  were  taken  from  twenty-eight  selected 
high  schools. 


228  Public  Secondary  Education 

730;  Greek,  156;  German,  481 ;  French,  283 ;  geometry,  584; 
algebra,  1,510;  higher  arithmetic,  1,024;  book-keeping,  314; 
physiology,  540;  chemistry,  275;  geology,  213;  zoology, 
279;  natural  philosophy,  530;  civil  government,  283;  Eng- 
Hsh  grammar,  1,014;  rhetoric,  441 ;  English  Hterature,  228; 
United  States  history,  550;  physical  geography,  530;  gen- 
eral history,  480;  Greek  history,  149;  moral  philosophy, 
98;  mental  philosophy,  117;  geometrical  drawing,  147; 
astronomy,   175;  botany,  207;  trigonometry,  42. 

The  same  report  gives  the  number  of  instructors  in 
these  28  schools  as  87,  each  of  whom  conducted  on  an 
average  of  six  and  one-half  recitations  a  day,  and  received 
an  average  salary  of  $86 2. 50.-  The  per  capita  cost  per 
pupil  was  $27.50.  Of  the  2,748  students  enrolled,  514 
declared  their  intention  of  entering  the  University  of 
Michigan  or  other  colleges.  Twenty-three  schools  found 
strong  support  in  the  commimities,  while  five  met  with 
considerable  opposition.  In  21  schools  teachers  aided 
pupils  to  select  their  courses  of  study,  and  all  28  schools 
required  rigid  adherence  to  the  choice  when  once  it 
was  made.  Each  school  had,  usually,  three  parallel 
courses  of  study  based  on  the  courses  in  the  university. 
The  high  schools  averaged  three  teachers  each. 

These  statistics,  when  analyzed,  reveal  some  interesting 
changes  from  the  conditions  of  tvvrelve  years  before. 
Modem  language  had  now  a  firm  foothold;  book-keeping 
had  quite  a  following;  United  States  history  had  secured 
a  recognized  place  in  the  field,  and  the  study  of  English 
and  English  literature  was  growing.  The  sciences  held 
their  rank  both  in  variety  of  subject-matter  and  in 
numbers  of  students. 

There  was,  however,  at  this  time  frequent  and  loud 
complaint  of  the  overtaxing  of  pupils.     Superintendent 

1  The  salaries  of  all  the  superintendents  are  averaged  with  these  figures. 


The  High-School  Era  229 

Briggs,  in  his  report  for  1875/  declared  that  there  was  a 
general  tendency  over  the  state  to  hurry  students  along 
through  the  grades  to  make  room  for  others,  and  hence 
many  youths  found  themselves  in  the  high  schools  before 
they  were  fitted  to  undertake  the  work  there.  To  meet 
these  deficiencies  the  high  schools  were,  he  added,  obliged 
to  devote  considerable  time  to  reviews  of  grade  subjects, 
and  thus  were  further  hampered  and  embarrassed  in  the 
performance  of  their  own  true  duties. 

To  meet  the  specific  needs  of  the  pupils  not  preparing 
for  college,  and  at  the  same  time  to  conform  to  the  definite 
demands  for  higher  standards  being  made  by  the  imiver- 
sity,  schools  began  to  consolidate  and  unify  their  pro- 
grams more  and  more.  Subjects  no  longer  demanded 
for  admission  to  college  and  having  no  conceivably  direct 
bearing  on  local  needs  were  one  by  one  lopped  off  the 
curricultmi,  and  the  time  thus  gained  was  employed  in 
intensifying  and  prolonging  the  work  on  subjects  already 
in  the  program,  or  else  was  allotted  to  new  subjects  of 
a  more  "practical"  character.- 

The  program  of  study  for  the  Detroit  High  School  in 
1879  was  as  follows.  The  work  was  arranged  in  four 
courses — English,  Latin,  Classical,  and  Scientific — and 
the  year  was  divided  into  three  terms. 

First  Year^ 

COURSE 

English  Arithmetic,  Algebra,  Book-keeping,  English  Syntax, 

Reading,  Spelling. 
Latin  Arithmetic,  Algebra,   Latin  Grammar  and   Reader, 

English  Syntax,  Reading,  Spelling. 

"^Report,  187s,  p.  Ixv.  This  is  the  old  perennial  cry:  "All  before  me  failed 
as  teachers.     I  alone  am  instructing  the  youth  as  he  should  be  instructed." 

2  Grand  Rapids,  for  example,  had  during  the  fifteen  years  preceding  1875  one 
by  one  omitted  frorn  its  program  the  following  branches:  Higher  arithmetic: 
higher  English  analysis;  higher  algebra;  trigonometry;  analytical  geometry;  com- 
position and  derivation  of  words;  advanced  rhetoric;  household  science;  moral 
philosophy;  political  economy;  science  of  government;  Sallust's  Jugurtiia;  Vergil's 
Eclogues,  and  selections  from  Livy,  Tacitus,  and  Horace.     (Report,  1875,  p.  356.) 

^Principal's  Report,  1879,  pp.  81,  82. 


230 


Public  Secondary  Education 


COURSE 

Classical 
Scientific 

COURSE 

English 

Latin 

Classical 
Scientific 


COURSE 

English 

Latin 

Classical 
Scientific 


COURSE 

English 

Latin 

Classical 

Scientific 


COURSE 

English 


Latin 


First  Year — continued 

Same  as  Latin  Course. 
Same  as  English  Course. 

Second  Year 

Geometry,  General  History,  Zoology,  Botany,  Spell- 
ing, Reading,  English  Literature. 

Geometry,  General  History,  Caesar,  Latin  Prose, 
Spelling,  Reading,  English  Literature. 

Same  as  the  Latin  Course  with  Greek  added. 

Geometry,  General  History,  Botany,  Zoology, 
English  Literature,  Spelling,  French  (optional). 

Third  Year 

Algebra,  English  Literature,  English  Syntax,  Essays, 
Rhetoric. 

Geometry,  English  Syntax,  Essays,  Cicero  and  Vergil, 
Latin  Prose,  French. 

Same  as  the  Latin  Course  with  Greek  added. 

Geometry,  English  Syntax,  Essays,  English  Litera- 
ture, French. 

Fourth  Year  (by  terms) 

FIRST  term 

Arithmetic  (review).  Natural  Philosophy,  Mental 
Philosophy,  Astronomy,  Orations,  Essays. 

Arithmetic  (review).  Solid  Geometry,  Vergil,  Latin 
Prose  (review),  French,  Orations,  Essays. 

Arithmetic  (review).  Solid  Geometry,  Vergil,  Latin 
Prose,  Greek  History,  Anabasis,  Greek  Prose, 
Orations,  Essays. 

Natural  Philosophy,  Solid  Geometry,  French,  Draw- 
ing, English  Literature,  Orations,  Essays. 

SECOND  TERM 

Arithmetic  (review).  Natural  Philosophy,  Astronomy, 

Local  Geography    (review).   Chemistry,   Orations, 

Essays. 
Arithmetic     (review).     Algebra,     Roman     History, 

Vergil,    Latin    Prose    (review),    French,    Orations, 

Essays. 


The  High-School  Era 


231 


SECOND  TERM — continued 

Arithmetic     (review),     Algebra,     Roman     History, 
Vergil,     Latin    Prose     (review),    Greek    History, 
Anabasis,  Greek  Prose,  Orations,  Essays. 
Algebra,     Natural     Philosophy,     Local     Geography 
(review).  Drawing,  French,  Orations,  Essays. 

THIRD   TERM 

Natural  Philosophy,  United  States  History,  United 
States  Civil  Government  (review),  Chemistry, 
Orations,  Essays. 

Algebra  (review),  Geometry  (review),  Roman  History, 
Vergil,  Latin  Prose  (review),  French,  Orations, 
Essays. 

Algebra  (review),  Geometry  (review),  Anabasis, 
Greek  Prose,  Roman  History,  Greek  History, 
Vergil,  Latin  Prose  (review).  Orations,  Essays. 

Natural  Philosophy,  United  States  History,  Algebra 
(review),  Geometry  (review).  United  States  Civil 
Government  (review),  French,  Mechanical  Drawing, 
Orations,  Essays.^ 

In  order  to  help  bring  system  out  of  the  confusion  and 
to  encourage  the  acceptance  of  a  viniform  program  of 
studies  for  the  entire  state,  the  Association  of  City  Super- 
intendents in  187s  drew  up  and  recommended  a  specific 
plan.  The  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  approved 
the  recommendation,  published  it  in  his  annual  report,  and 
circulated  it  with  the  further  co-recommendation  of  the 
State  Department.  But  few  schools  seem  to  have 
adopted  the  scheme  in  toto,  and  only  slowly  were  programs 
reshaped  to  conform  to  it  in  all  its  more  important  aspects. 

The  recommendation  follows:^ 


COURSE 

Classical 


Scientific 


COURSE 

English 


Latin 


Classical 


Scientific 


1  The  textbooks  in  most  common  use  thirty-five  years  ago  were:  Mathematics: 
Olney's,  Robinson's,  Ray's,  and  Davies'  texts;  General  History:  Swinton's  and 
Anderson's  texts;  Rhetoric:  Hart's  and  Quackenbos'  texts;  Physiology:  Steele's, 
Dalton's,  Loomis",  and  Brown's  texts;  Botany:  Gray's  and  Wood's  texts;  Zool- 
ogy: Tenney's,  Steele's,  Smellie's  texts;  Natural  Philosophy  and  Chemistry: 
Cooley's,  Steele's,  Norton's,  Well's,  Hooker's,  and  Quackenbos'  texts.  (Report, 
1877,  p.  xix.)     Here  too,  it  is  observed,  is  little  uniformity. 

^Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  1S76,  p.  xlix. 


232  Public  Secondary  Education 

Year  Term  Subject-Matter 

I  I     Algebra,  Composition,  Physiology. 
I      {  2     Algebra,  Grammar,  Zoology. 
I  3     Algebra,  Analysis,  Botany. 

I  I     Arithmetic,  General  History,  Botany,Physical  Geography. 

2      <  2     Arithmetic,  General  History,  Botany,  Physical  Geography. 

i  3     Book-keeping,  General  History,  Science  of  Government, 

1  Geometry,  French  or  German,  Natural  Philosophy. 

2  Geometry,  French  or  German,  Natural  Philosophy. 

3  Geometry,  French  or  German,  Rhetoric. 

1  Algebra,  French  or  German,  Rhetoric. 

2  Algebra,  French  or  German,  English  Literature. 

3  Geometrical    Drawing,    French    or    German,    English 
Literature. 

One  is  impressed  at  once  by  a  survey  of  this  plan  with 
the  happy  simpHcity  of  the  whole.  What  a  sweeping 
away  of  diversified  subject-matter  there  is !  A  movement 
toward  concentration  is  very  apparent,  but  even  yet  the 
sciences  are  more  or  less  "chopped  up."  There  are,  too, 
grave  faults  of  omission.  The  "practical"  subjects  are 
represented  alone  by  book-keeping.  United  States  his- 
tory is  lacking.  The  English  work  is  not  well  arranged. 
No  reference  is  made  to  the  classical  languages,  but  since 
the  plan  was  drawn  for  all  schools  one  would  expect  this 
omission.  Obviously,  schools  that  desired  to  incor- 
porate a  Classical  Course  were  expected  to  do  so.  The 
whole  plan,  however,  points  plainly  in  the  direction  of  a 
simplified  curriculimi,  and  hence,  by  impHcation,  to  a 
curtailment  of  individual  and  local  choices.  The  actual 
trend,  however,  was  just  the  opposite. 

At  least  as  early  as  1876^  there  was  to  be  found  in  some 

1  Grand  Rapids  in  this  year  allowed  a  choice  between  book-keeping  and  history 
but  in  the  English  Course  only.  In  1880  the  whole  senior  work  in  this  course  was 
elective.  (Principal's  Report,  1876,  p.  285,  and  Board  of  Education  Report,  1880, 
p.  30.)  East  Saginaw,  in  its  report  of  1876,  also  speaks  of  introducing  a  free 
election  of  studies.  {Report,  1876,  p.  328.)  This  report  adds:  "'It  popularizes 
without  destroying  the  efficiency  of  the  work." 


The  High-School  Era  233 

high  schools  the  inception  of  the  principle  of  individual 
election.  By  1880  the  idea  had  gained  quite  a  respectable 
clientele,  but  was  still  rarely  found  in  practice. 

In  1 88 1  in  the  State  Teachers'  Association  a  plea  was 
made  for  industrial  training  in  the  schools,  but  appar- 
ently left  no  impression  sufficiently  strong  to  excite  to 
action.^  Still,  there  was  growing  more  and  more  a  feeling 
that  the  high  schools  should  better  meet  the  local  and 
practical  needs  —  that  they  did  not  exist  primarily  to 
prepare  for  college.^ 

A  state  law  enacted  in  1884  made  it  obligatory  on  every 
public  school  of  the  state — both  elementary  and  second- 
ary —  to  offer  prescribed  courses  in  physiology  and 
hygiene,  treated  with  especial  reference  to  the  effects  of 
narcotics  and  alcohol  upon  the  himian  body.^  This  law, 
together  with  the  requirements  of  the  imiversity  respecting 
physics  and  botany,  made  these  three  sciences  commonly 
prescribed  subjects  in  practically  every  course  of  all  the 
better  schools. 

For  the  next  ten  years  the  program  of  studies,  on  the 
whole,  remained  virtually  unchanged.  Individual  schools 
modified  their  w^ork  somewhat  by  curtailing  or  eliminating 
certain  subjects  that  were  not  in  especial  favor  in  the 
community  and  by  adding  such  as  the  people  desired.* 
There  was,  therefore,  still  no  uniformity.  Pupils  passing 
from  one  town  and  school  to  another  often  found  more  or 
less  difficulty  in  adjusting  themselves  to  the  new  condi- 
tions. Not  infrequently  by  such  removal  they  lost  one 
full  year's  credit  toward  graduation. 

To  obviate  these  disadvantages  and  to  improve  the 

1  Paper  read  by  Mr.  F.  E.  Clark  of  Orchard  Lake.     (.Report  of  r88i,  pp.  289  #.) 

2  Resolution  of  State  Teachers'  Association,  1880. 

3  Laws  of  1884,  Chap.  3,  Sec.  15. 

4  Adrian,  for  example,  in  1876  dropped  astronomy,  zoology,  and  geology  from 
the  program,  and  reduced  the  study  of  algebra  to  one  year.  Civics  and  drawing 
were  added.     (Report,  1876,  p.  222.) 


234  Public  Secondary  Education 

situation  in  general,  the  State  Teachers'  Association 
again  in  1894  appointed  a  committee  to  wrestle  with  the 
question  and  to  draft  a  new  program  of  studies  for  the 
guidance  of  all  the  schools  of  the  state. ^  This  com- 
mittee formulated  and  reported  a  number  of  resolu- 
tions, based  in  large  measure  upon  the  suggestions  made 
by  the  National  Committee  of  Ten.^  The  most  salient 
recommendations  made  by  the  local  committee  were: 

1 .  That  the  recommendations  of  the  Committee  of  Ten  be  adopted 

respecting  the  study  of  foreign  language  and  mathematics 
in  the  eighth  grade,  and  also  respecting  the  study  of  English 
in  the  high  school.  3 

2.  That  a  year's  work  in  general  history  be  required  of  all  students 

in  the  tenth  grade. 

3.  That  physics  be  taught  in  the  twelfth  grade. 

4.  That  botany  be  taught  the  second  semester  of  the  ninth  grade. 

5.  That  no  pupil  be  permitted  to  carry  more  than  sixteen  hours 

of  recitation  per  week  during  the  first  two  years  of  the  high 
school,  and  not  more  than  eighteen  in  the  last  two  years.^ 

The  committee  then  proposed  the  following  scheme  of 
studies  for  all  schools,  recognizing  the  four  standard 
courses — Classical,  Latin,  Scientific,  and  English — and 
appraising  the  different  subjects  by  means  of  points  or 
credits  or  units.  ^  Sixty-eight  and  one-half  units  were  to 
be  required  for  graduation  from  any  course.  Of  these, 
37  points  were  constant  for  all.  These  were:  Eng- 
lish, 12  points;  general  history,  5  points;  algebra,  7>^ 
points;    geometry,    5   points;    botany,   2^  points;    and 

1  This  committee  convened  in  final  meeting  at  Ann  Arbor,  June  28,  1895. 

2  The  Committee  of  Ten  reported  in  December,  1893. 

3  These  were  that  Latin  or  German  be  begun  in  the  eighth  grade  as  alternates 
(optionals)  with  English  grammar;  that  concrete  geometry  and  algebra  be  given 
a  large  place  in  the  eighth  grade;  and  that  four  years'  work  in  English  be  offered 
in  the  high  school.     (See  Report  of  Committee  of  Ten.) 

*  In  the  original  draft  of  their  resolutions  the  committee  also  recommended 
that  two  years  of  foreign  language  be  required  of  all  students  in  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  grades,  but  in  their  later  draft  this  provision  was  eliminated.  (Report, 
I89S.  p.  85.)  ... 

fi  A  point,  or  unit,  signified  one  recitation  per  week  for  one  year.  Ten  points, 
for  example,  signified  five  recitations  per  week  for  a  period  of  two  years. 


The  High-School  Era 


235 


physics,  5  points.     Additional  subjects  to  be  required  in 
the  different  courses  were: 


Classical 

Latin-Scientific 

SUBJECT 

POINTS 

SUBJECT 

POINTS 

Latin 

20 

Latin 

20 

Greek 

10 

French  or  German 

ID 

Elective 

I'A 

Elective 

IJ^ 

Total 

31K 

Total 

31'y^ 

Scientific 

English 

SUBJECT 

POINTS 

SUBJECT 

POINTS 

U.S.  History  and  Civics 

5 

English  Literature 

5 

Foreign  Language 

20 

English  History 

5 

Chemistry 

5 

U.S.  History 

5 

Elective 

IH 

Arithmetic  and  Book- 

keeping 

2y2 

Total 

3IK 

Chemistry 

5 

Laboratory  Science 

5 

Physiology 

2K 

Elective 

IK 

Total  31  }4 

The  committee  then  distributed  this  program  over 
four  years'  time  and  thus  offered  to  the  various  schools 
of  the  state  a  definite  scheme  for  their  guidance.  While 
of  course  there  was  no  legal  power  attached  to  the  recom- 
mendations, they  did,  as  the  earlier  ones,  tend  greatly 
to  standardize  the  work. 

Obviously,  in  the  minds  of  the  committee  the  idea  of 
rigid  parallel  courses  —  however  numerous  —  was  not 
satisfactory.  While  their  scheme  afforded  little  oppor- 
tunity for  free  individual  choice,  the  principle  of  individual 
election  was,  in  a  small  degree,  recognized  as  applicable 
to  all  schools  just  as  it  had  already  been  recognized  in  a 
limited  way  in  the  university. 

Three  years  later,  before  the  same  association  of 
teachers.  Superintendent  A.  S.  Whitney  of  Saginaw  advo- 
cated the  reduction  of  all  courses  to  two — a  "fitting," 


236  Public  Secondary  Edtication 

or  college-preparatory  course;  and  a  "finishing,"  or  non- 
preparatory  course.  He  also  urged  the  following  reforms : 
(i)  beginning  two  foreign  languages  in  the  seventh  and 
eighth  grades — the  modem  language  coming  first;  (2)  dis- 
tributing the  time  allotted  to  the  various  subjects  over 
a  longer  period;  (3)  introducing  manual  training,  domestic 
science,  and  commercial  subjects  more  extensively  into 
the  high  schools;  (4)  granting  high-school  credit  for  suc- 
cessful work  done  outside  the  high  school  in  music, 
painting,  and  drawing;  (5)  introducing  more  liberal 
courses  of  civics,  sociology,  and  economics;  (6)  increasing 
the  total  number  of  recitation  periods  per  week  by  per- 
mitting some  "unprepared  recitations";  and  (7)  making 
all  subjects  beyond  the  ninth  grade  purely  elective,  save 
perchance  English.^ 

During  the  next  few  years  the  greater  number  of  the 
better  high  schools  of  the  state  began  to  revise  their  work 
in  line  with  these  suggestions.^  Every  year  witnessed 
the  further  extension  of  the  elective  system,  though  the 
old  courses  of  study  were  usually  retained  as  suggestive 
guides  pointing  to  more  or  less  definitely  perceived  ends. 
In  some  schools  these  suggestive  courses  were  but  two  — 
the  college  preparatory  and  the  non-preparatory.  In 
other  schools  they  took  the  names  "University  of  Michi- 
gan Literary  Course,"  "University  of  Michigan  Medical 
Course,"  "Normal  School  Course,"  "Wellesley  Course," 
"Business  Course,"  and  others  similarly.  Each  course 
contained  the  subjects  that  seemed  best  suited  to  lead 
to  the  ends  conceived  but  no  pupil  was  compelled  to  hold 
rigidly  to  the  advice. 

1  Proceedings  of  State  Teachers'  Association,  1898,  in  Report  of  Superintendent 
0/  Public  Instruction,  1898,  pp.  180  ff. 

2  It  is  not  meant  to  imply  that  the  movement  was  not  already  under  way  before 
1898.  It  was,  and  the  ideas  suggested  by  Professor  Whitney  were,  in  part,  already 
in  successful  operation  in  some  schools  of  the  state.  His  advice  gave  momentum 
to  the  reform. 


The  High-School  Era  237 

Under  the  new  ideals  the  program  of  studies 
recommended  in  1895  seemed  obsolete.  Again,  shortly- 
after  this  date,  therefore,  the  State  Teachers'  Associa- 
tion appointed  a  commission  to  "investigate  the  courses 
of  study  pursued  in  the  high  schools  of  the  state  and  to 
recommend  a  uniform  course  of  study  for  the  same." 
This  new  commission,  consisting  of  many  of  Michigan's 
foremost  educators  both  in  college  and  in  secondary  work, 
reported  their  decisions  in  1905.  The  document  is  a 
valuable  one,  and  the  recommendations  therein  have 
since  been  accepted  by  many  high  schools  of  the  state. 
The  program  of  studies  advised  includes  the  following: 
Latin,  4  years;  Greek,  2 ;  English,  4;  German,  4;  French,  4; 
music,  4;  history,  4;  mathematics,  3  or  4;  sciences,  4; 
drawing,  4 ;  domestic  art,  4 ;  domestic  science,  4 ;  woodwork, 
4;  and  ironwork,  4.^ 

One  still  finds  in  Michigan  a  great  variety  of  programs 
of  studies,  but  imdemeath  the  apparent  differences  there 
is  a  common  fotmdation;  there  is  to-day  a  closer  approx- 
imation to  unity  in  the  midst  of  the  diversity.  In  almost 
all  the  larger  schools  and  in  many  of  the  smaller  there  are 
offered  to  the  youth  rich  menus  from  which  each  may 
appropriate  what  is  best  suited  to  his  nature.  The 
languages,  the  sciences,  the  social  subjects,  literature,  art, 
and  the  "practical"  studies  are  all  there,  nor  is  there  any 
deep-seated  jealousy  among  them.   Each  meets  a  felt  need. 

Respecting  the  academical  preparations  of  high-school 
teachers  during  the  period  under  consideration  there  are 
no  available  data.  Of  course  every  teacher  was  obliged 
to  hold  a  legal  certificate  of  some  kind.     The  standards, 

1  See  Report,  p.  19.  Manual  training  work  had  begun  to  find  a  place  in  some 
schools  early  in  the  nineties.  Bay  City,  for  example,  introducing  it  in  a  small  way  in 
1891.  {Report,  1900,  pp.  37  ff.)  The  most  active  movement,  however,  did  not 
come  until  considerably  later.  Even  yet  few  schools  ofiFer  the  work  for  more  than 
one  or  two  years  in  the  high-school  grades.  (Report,  1905,  Statistical  Tables.) 
In  191S  only  86  of  the  cities  and  towns  in  the  state  provided  work  of  any  kind 
throughout  their  entire  systems.     (Repbrt,  1915,  pp.  180  ff.) 


238  Public  Secondary  Education 

however,  differed  widely  with  different  communities 
and  at  different  times.  ^  Apparently  most  of  the  super- 
intendents or  principals,  together  with  the  teachers 
of  language,  were  college  trained  or  had  pursued  work 
in  a  normal  school.  As  schools  developed  and  higher 
standards  of  attainments  were  made,  a  normal  or  col- 
lege diploma  became  an  essential  quaHfication  of  appoint- 
ment. For  many  years,  however,  the  majority  of 
teachers  in  the  high  schools  were  those  who  had  received 
only  a  normal-school  training.  In  more  recent  years, 
however,  the  standard  has  been  set  at  graduation  from 
a  college  offering  a  four-year  course.  To-day,  in  all  the 
larger  and  stronger  schools  this  is  the  unvarying  rule. 
But  in  the  smaller  schools  only  a  small  minority  of  the 
teachers  are  college  graduates. 

In  1874  the  university  adopted  the  policy  of  granting 
to  its  graduates  of  especial  merit  a  special  "Teacher's 
Diploma."  2  In  1879  there  was  established  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan  the  first  chair  of  the  Science  and  Art 
of  Teaching  that  was  found  in  a  state  university  in 
America.^  Though  no  legal  certificate  was  given  students 
pursuing  work  in  this  department,  its  organization 
obviously  stimulated  the  scholastic  training  of  teachers.'' 
In  1 89 1,  however,  the  dignity  and  value  of  the  pedagogical 
studies  were  enhanced  by  a  legislative  act  authorizing  the 
faculty  of  Literature,  Science,  and  the  Arts  to  grant  a 
teacher's  certificate,  valid  throughout  the  state  during  the 
life  of  the  holder,  to  such  students  as  took  an  academic 

1  In  T873,  in  answer  to  a  circular  sent  out  by  Superintendent  Briggs,  143  of  the 
311  union  schools  made  replies.  In  these  143  schools  84  had  high-school  depart- 
ments. In  these  143  schools  were  employed  1,261  teachers,  of  whom  59  held 
state  certificates;  82,  normal-school  diplomas:  and  80,  college  diplomas.  These 
figures  include  the  superintendents  and  principals.     (Report,  1873,  pp.  28#.) 

2 This  •'Diploma"  had  no  legal  validity.  It  was  signed  by  the  pres- 
ident and  by  the  professor  who  had  had  charge  of  the  work,  and  was  an  official 
recommendation  only. 

.     3  President's   Report,    1880.     Superintendent    Payne    of  Adrian    was    the    first 
incumbent  of  this  office. 

4  Students  could  now  secure  academic  training  and  professional  training  in  the 
same  institution,  and  at  the  same  time  gain  an  academic  degree. 


The  High-School  Era 


239 


degree.^  In  harmony  with  this  act  the  faculty  voted  to 
require  of  such  candidates  a  minimum  of  work  in  the 
Department  of  the  Science  and  Art  of  Teaching. 

Two  years  later  a  similar  legislative  act  authorized  the 
State  Board  of  Education  to  grant  life  certificates  to 
graduates  of  other  colleges  of  the  state,  provided  such 
colleges  offered  each  a  full  four  years'  course  leading  to  a 
degree,  and  required  at  least  eleven  semester  hours'  work 
in  their  Department  of  Education.^ 

The  normal  school  had  naturally  from  its  earliest 
organization  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  certificating  teachers.^ 
These  new  statutes  gave  the  colleges  equal  advantages. 
In  consequence,  prospective  teachers  who  could  afford 
four  years  of  post  high-school  preparation,  more  and  more 
sought  the  colleges,  and  hence  larger  numbers  of  college- 
trained  teachers  have  in  recent  years  gone  back  into  the 
high  schools.*  In  very  recent  years  the  standards  set  by 
the  North  Central  Association  of  Colleges  and  Secondary 
Schools  have  caused  many  high  schools  to  reject  all 
applications  from  candidates  who  hold  no  college  degree. 

1  Act  144,  Laws  of  rSoi. 

2  Act  136,  Laws  of  1S93.  Eleven  "hours"  would  be  approximately  one  third 
of  the  work  allowed  to  be  carried  in  one  college  year;  or  nearly  one  whole  semester's 
work.  After  the  law  of  1893,  the  faculty  of  the  university  also  set  ejeven  hours 
as  the  minimum  requirement  of  pedagogical  study  leading  to  a  life  certificate. 

3  Act  of  establishment,  1849,  gave  this  privilege. 

4  The  following  table  shows  the  recent  tendencies  at  the  university: 


VTTAl? 

NUMBER  GRADUATES 

NUMBER   SENIORS 

T^  T— *  T%         ^~*  T— '  VT  f* 

I  i:>aa 

LITERARY  COLLEGE 

PLANNING   TO   TEACH 

PER   CENT 

1904-  5 

310 

154 

48 

1905-  6 

297 

157 

53 

1906-  7 

319 

160 

50 

1907-  8 

323 

178 

55 

1908-  9 

362 

192 

53 

1909-10 

356 

197 

56 

1910-I1 

359 

213 

59 

1911-12 

394 

199 

51 

1912-13 

407 

228 

56 

1913-14 

479 

243 

51 

1914-15 

493 

285 

57 

During  the  first  semester,  1915-16,  a  total  of  533  students  were  taking  work 
in  the  Department  of  Education. 


240  Public  Secondary  Education 

All  these  regulations  have  obviously  had  great  influence 
upon  the  secondary  schools.  The  college-bred  teacher, 
being  possessed  of  a  greater  degree  of  liberal  culture  and 
holding  high  ideals  of  scholarship,  has,  as  a  rule,  carried 
into  the  high  school  a  spirit  that  has  been  stimulating  to 
intellectual  effort  and  also  has  modified  the  standards  of 
social  intercourse  and  personal  decorum.  College  ideals 
have  been  transplanted  to  the  lower  schools,  and  ambi- 
tions for  college  careers  have  been  implanted  and  fos- 
tered in  souls  that  might  otherwise  never  have  been 
awakened.  Indeed,  the  personal  influence  of  a  generous, 
liberal,  refined,  and  cultured  man  or  woman — who  can 
estimate  it  ? 

The  clientele  supporting  the  public  high  schools  of  the 
state  is  as  varied  as  society  itself.  In  the  early  days  of 
these  schools  the  charge  was  made- — most  often,  we  must 
think,  from  ulterior  m.otives — that  they  were  exclusive 
and  aristocratic.  To  refute  these  charges  Superintendent 
Gass  in  1883  gathered  statistics  respecting  the  family 
affiliations  of  high-school  pupils,  and  found  to  his  great 
satisfaction  that  the  high  schools  were  the  very  centers 
of  democracy.  Not  only  was  this  fact  revealed  in  the 
constituency  of  the  pupils,  but  also  in  their  daily  asso- 
ciations and  ideals.^  Children  of  the  wealthy  and  the 
poor,  of  the  professional  classes  and  the  non-professional 
classes,  sit  side  by  side  and  enter  upon  relations  of  close 
social  intimacy.  There  is  little  trace  of  snobbishness  or 
of  feelings  of  social  inferiority.  In  the  high  schools  of 
Michigan  all  are  equal  nominally  and,  in  large  measure, 
actually. 

The  average  number  of  pupils  per  teacher  has  varied 

1  Mr.  Gass  studied  the  conditions  in  thirty-six  high  schools.  In  Detroit  he 
found  56  per  cent  of  the  pupils  of  the  high  school  were  children  of  non-taxpayers 
and  that  33  per  cent  were  from  the  so-called  working  classes.  In  the  other  thirty- 
five  schools  34  per  cent  of  the  pupils  were  children  of  farmers,  and  26  per  cent  of 
mechanics  and  laborers,  21  per  cent  made  no  reply  to  his  questions.  (Report, 
1883,  pp.  xi  and  xli.) 


The  High-School  Era  241 

from  school  to  school  and  from  one  year  to  another.  In 
1883  the  average  of  nine  cities  and  towns  was  thirty-four 
per  teacher.^ 

The  average  age  of  pupils  graduating  from  the  high 
schools  about  1870  was  nearly  nineteen  and  one-half 
years.  By  1890  this  had  been  reduced  by  one  full  year 
at  least,  owing  largely  to  the  superior  organization  of  the 
schools,  improved  methods  of  instruction,  and  the  gener- 
ally enhanced  financial  conditions  of  society.  Since  1890 
there  has  been  a  further  decrease  in  this  regard.^ 

Toward  the  latter  period  of  the  era  under  discussion, 
organized  high-school  athletics  came  to  play  an  important 
r61e  in  nearly  every  community.  At  first  taking  on  a 
local  form,  the  interest  in  these  activities  soon  came  to  be 
an  intercommunity  affair,  and  finally  as  wide  as  the  state. 
Interscholastic  meetings  of  various  kinds  had  by  1890 
obtained  a  firm  foothold  in  the  school  life  of  the  larger 
schools  and  even  in  many  small  schools.  Indeed,  the 
fear  was  not  tmfounded  that  there  was  too  great  an  inter- 
est centered  about  these  affairs.  Opinion  was  expressed 
that  the  schools  were  getting  away  from  their  intellectual 
ideals  and  from  true  standards  of  propriety  and  even 
of  morality.  To  regulate  and  control  these  activities 
in  the  interest  of  school  harmony,  clean  sport,  and  due 
proportion,  the  high-school  section  of  the  state  Teachers' 
Association  in  1895  appointed  a  committee  to  devise  a 
plan  of  agreement  to  govern  state  interscholastic  activities, 
and  to  nominate  a  Board  of  Directors  to  supervise  all 
inter-high-school  athletic  contests.^ 

1  Monroe's  average  was  i8;  Battle  Creek's,  22;  Kalamazoo's,  23;  Detroit's, 
25;  Flint's,  30:  Ann  Arbor's,  35;  Hillsdale's,  42;  Hastings',  52;  and  Ithaca's,  58. 
{Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction.  1883,  pp.  lx#.) 

■These  same  schools  in  1913-14  showed  the  followmg  averages:  Monroe,  19; 
Battle  Creek,  26;  Kalamazoo,  16;  Detroit,  21;  Flint,  22;  Ann  Arbor,  22;  Hillsdale, 
24;  Hastings,  28;  Ithaca,  21.  (Report  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
1913-14,  pp.  180  ff.) 

2  Comparisons  of  statistics  found  in  Reports  of  Superintoidents  of  Public 
Instruction. 

3  Report,  1896,  p.  33S. 

17 


242  Public  Secondary  Education 

After  due  consideration  this  committee  recommended 
a  plan  which  became  the  basis  for  determining  future 
athletic  meetings.^  From  that  day  to  this,  athletics  has 
played  a  leading  r61e  throughout  the  state,  but  it  has 
been  rigidly  subjected  to  official  supervision  and  control. 

Thus  in  almost  every  aspect  the  high  schools  of 
Michigan  have  been  keeping  step  with  progress.  Dur- 
ing that  whole  period  of  fifty  years,  which  is  so  aptly 
called  the  High-School  Period,  one  word  alone  best 
describes  the  whole  situation.  This  is  the  word  growth  — 
steady,  healthful,  many-sided  growth.  There  has  been 
growth  in  pubHc  sentiment  favorable  to  the  high  schools ; 
there  has  been  growth  in  friendly  legislative  action  and 
in  the  resources  dedicated  to  high-school  purposes;  there 
has  been  growth  in  numbers  of  schools  established  and 
in  new  buildings  erected ;  there  has  been  growth  in  enroll- 
ment and  in  attendance;  there  has  been  growth  in  the 
richness  of  the  program  of  study  and  in  the  methods  of 
its  adjustment  to  individual  needs;  there  has  been  growth 
in  equipment,  and  in  the  teaching  force;  there  has  been 
an  enhancement  of  the  social  rank  of  the  teachers;  and, 
finally,  there  has  been  growth  in  professional  spirit  and 
in  the  ideals  and  ambitions  that  dominate  parents,  pupils, 
and  teachers  alike. 

In  a  later  book  an  effort  will  be  made  to  note  the 
contemporary  tendencies  and  to  analyze  them  in  the 
light  of  this  historic  past. 

1  The  salient  parts  of  the  adopted  agreement  were:  (a)  Every  contestant  must 
be  carrying  at  least  ten  weekly  hours  of  work,  and  must  be  doing  satisfactory 
work  in  these  ten  hours.  (6)  No  person  was  allowed  to  compete  for  more  than 
five  seasons.  («)  No  person  was  permitted  to  compete  in  athletics  of  the  second 
semester  who  had  not  been  enrolled  in  the  school  from  October  I  to  March  i, 
and  was  still  a  member  of  the  school. 


APPENDIX  A 


Course  of  Study  for  County  Normal  Training  Classes 
Michigan  in  Bulletin  i  of  1908,  Issued  by  the  State 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction 


IN 


Qualifications  for  Admission  to  Classes 

1.  All  applicants  for  admission  must  be  at  least  seventeen  years  of  age  at  the 

time  of  entrance. 

2.  They  must  subscribe  to  the  following  declaration:    I  hereby  declare  that 

my  object  in  asking  admission  to  the  training  class  is  to  prepare  myself 
for  teaching,  and  it  is  my  purpose  to  engage  in  teaching  in  the  rural  schools, 
or  in  schools  of  not  more  than  two  departments,  at  the  completion  of  such 
preparation,  and  I  pledge  myself  to  serve  the  state  faithfully  in  such 
school,  during  the  life  of  my  certificate.  I  pledge  myself  to  remain  in  the 
class  during  the  year  unless  prevented  by  sickness  or  excused  by  the  county 
normal  board. 

3.  All  applicants  must  poseess  a  good  moral  character. 

4.  Applicants  must  possess  these  academic  qualifications  to  enter  training 

classes: 

(a)  Any  person  who  is  a  graduate  of  a  graded  school  having  at  least  a 
course  of  ten  grades  in  its  curriculum. 

(6)  Any  person  who  is  a  holder  of  at  least  a  second-grade  certificate,  or 
shall  pass  a  second-grade  examination. 

(c)  Any  person  who  has  had  two  years  of  successful  experience  in  teaching 
in  the  public  schools. 

Note. — These  should  be  strictly  observed. 


Course  of  Study 


first  quarter 

Psychology 

Reading,  Spelling,  Writing 

English  (Language  Work) 

Arithmetic 

Manual  Training 

Observation  (last  four  weeks) 

second  quarter 

Psychology  and  Pedagogy 

Classics  (Literary  Study) 

Grammar 

Arithmetic  and  Book-keeping 

State  Course  of  Study 

Observation 


THIRD  QUARTER 


Practice  Teaching 

Pedagogy 

Geography 

United  States  History 

Civics  and  School  Law 


FOURTH   quarter 

Practice  Teaching 

Pedagogy  and  School  Management 

Geography    (three    weeks),    Physiology 

(six  weeks) 
United  States  History 
Elementary  Agriculture 

Notes. — i.  Music  and  drawing  alternate  through  the  year. 

2.  Sufficient  time  should  be  given  in  the  second  quarter  for  a  specific 

study  of  the  State  Course  of  Study  as  a  whole. 

3.  Daily  work  in  the  subjects  specified  for  each  quarter. 

4.  In  connection  with  reading,  language,  arithmetic,  and  geography 

present  proper  primary  methods,  and  also  give  special  lessons 
on  general  primary  methods. 


243 


244 


Public  Secondary  Education 


APPENDIX  B 
State  of  Michigan  High-School  Course  in  Agriculture,  Sug- 
gested BY  the  Department  of  Agricultural  Education 
OF  the  Michigan  Agricultural  College 

Course 


pth  Grade 

loth  Grade 

nth  Grade 

1 2th  Grade 

English 

English 

Literature  and 

Literature  and 

Composition 

Rhetoric 

Algebra 

Geometry 

Physics 

Chemistry 

Arithmetic  and 

General  History 

Commercial  Geog- 

American History 

Book-keeping 

raphy;  Zoology 

and  Civics 

Botany 

Crops  (el.) ) 

Live  Stock,  types  ) 

Live  Stock,  im- 
provement,    1  1 
feeds  and       (  * 

Soils  and    >  i 

and  breeds         >•  i 

tillage     ) 

Dairying                ) 

feeding           ) 

Agricultural 

Horticulture  |  , 

Soils                        1 

Botany 

Entomology   i  ' 

and  soil  phys-  >  i 

ics                       j 

Poultry 

Farm    manage- 
ment 

Farm     Me-     }i 
chanics 

Farm     Machin- 
ery - 

APPENDIX  C 
A  Typical  Small  School  System 

Brown  City  High  School  Course  of  Study 


required 

ELECTIVE 

Fir^t    Year 

First 
Semester 

Composition  and  Litera- 
ture, Algebra 

Latin,  Physiology,  An- 
cient History 

Second 
Semester 

Composition  and  Litera- 
ture, Algebra 

Latin,  Botany,  Ancient 
History 

First 
Semester 

Composition  and  Litera- 
ture, Plane  Geometry 

Caesar,  Physical  Geog- 
raphy, Medieval  His- 
tory 

Second 
Semester 

Composition  and  Litera- 
ture, Plane  Geometry 

Caesar.  Physical  Geog- 
raphy, Medieval  His- 
tory 

Thirri   Year 

First 
Semester 

English 

Cicero,  German,  Chem- 
istry, Advanced  Al- 
gebra 

Second 
Semester 

English 

Cicero,  German,  Chem- 
istry, Solid  Geometry 

First 
Semester 

Physics,  Civics  and 
Lfnited  States  History 

Vergil,  English  Litera- 
ture, German,  Book- 
keeping 

Second 
Semester 

Physics,  Civics  and 
United  States  History 

Vergil,  English  Litera- 
ture, German,  Re- 
views 

Appendixes 


245 


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Appendixes  247 


APPENDIX  E 

Entrance    Requirements    of    the    College    of    Literature, 

Science,  and  the  Arts,  of  the  University  of  Michigan, 

Taken  from  the  Official  Catalogue  of  19 14-15 

Admission  of  Candidates  for  a  Degree 

Admission  to  this  College  is  gained  only  by  examination  or  by 
certificate.  Applicants  for  admission  must  be  at  least  sixteen  years 
of  age,  and  must  have  completed  the  requirements  for  admission 
as  here  described.  Fifteen  units  are  required  for  admission,  a  unit 
meaning  the  equivalent  of  five  recitations  a  week  in  one  branch  of 
study  for  one  year,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  not  less  than  one 
hundred  twenty  sixty-minute  hours  in  the  clear.  Two  to  three 
hours  of  laboratory,  drawing,  or  shop-work  will  be  counted  as 
equivalent  to  one  of  recitation. 

admission  on  examination 

The  fifteen  units  presented  for  admission  on  examination  must 
all  be  chosen  from  Group  I.  They  must  embrace  two  subjects  of 
three  units  each,  and  must  include  three  units  of  Enghsh  Composition 
and  Literature,  two  units  of  a  Foreign  Language,  one  unit  of  Algebra 
and  one  of  Geometry,  and  one  unit  of  one  of  the  sciences.  Physics, 
Chemistry,  Botany,  or  Zoology. 

admission  on  certificate 

Plan  A .  The  fifteen  units  presented  for  admission  on  certificate 
(except  by  those  entering  from  especially  approved  schools,  see 
Plan  B)  must  include  three  units  of  English  Composition  and  Lit- 
erature, two  units  of  a  Foreign  Language,  one  unit  of  Algebra  and 
one  of  Geometry,  and  one  unit  of  one  of  the  sciences,  Physics, 
Chemistry,  Botany,  or  Zoology;  and  may  include  not  more  than 
three  units  from  Group  IL  They  must  embrace  two  subjects  of 
three  units  each  from  Group  L  It  is,  however,  strongly  recom- 
mended that  one  or  more  studies  be  pursued  throughout  the  four 
years  of  the  high-school  course. 

Plan  B.  Graduates  of  schools  on  the  approved  list  of  the  North 
Central  Association  of  Colleges  and  Secondary  Schools  will  be 
admitted  upon  the  presentation  of  an  unqualified  recommendation 


248  Public  Secondary  Education 

covering  not  less  than  fifteen  units,  of  ^ which  at  least  twelve  must 
be  from  Group  I.  Admission  on  this  basis  of  recommendation  may 
be  granted  also  to  the  graduates  of  other  especially  approved  schools. 

Applicants  for  admission  who  intend  to  enter  the  Combined  Curriculum  in 
Letters  and  Medicine  must  offer  two  units  of  Latin.  They  are  also  strongly 
advised  to  present  Trigonometry,  Physics,  and  Chemistry.  Those  who  enter 
without  these  subjects  will  ordinarily  need  to  attend  one  Summer  Session  in 
addition  to  the  regular  term  prescribed  for  the  course. 

SUBJECTS   ACCEPTED  FOR   ADMISSION 

The  subjects  from  which  choice  may  be  made,  and  the  number 
of  units  which  will  be  accepted  in  each  subject,  are  as  follows: 

Group  I 

English  Composition  and  Literature,  3  or  4  units 

Greek,  2  or  3  units  Trigonometry,  yi  unit 

Latin,  2,  3,  or  4  units  Physics,  i  unit 

French,  2,  3,  or  4  units  Chemistry,  i  unit 

German,  2,  3,  or  4  units  Botany,  K  or  i  unit 

Spanish,  2,  3,  or  4  units  Zoology,  K  or  i  unit 

History,  i,  2,  or  3  units  Physiology,  K  unit 

Algebra,  i,  iK.  or  2  units  Geology,  yi  unit 

Geometry,  i  or  iM  units  Physiography,  K  or  i  unit 

Three  units  of  science  may  be  offered  as  a  three-unit  subject. 

In  order  that  a  half  unit  in  science  may  be  accepted  it  must  be 
supplemented  by  a  second  half  unit  in  science.  For  this  purpose 
the  following  groupings  are  suggested:  (c)  Botany  and  Zoology; 
(b)  Zoology  (or  Botany)  and  Physiology;  (c)  Physiography  and 
Geology;    (d)  Physiography  and  Botany. 

Two  units  of  Mathematics  and  one  unit  of  Physics  may  be  offered 
as  a  three-unit  subject,  in  which  case  a  second  unit  of  science  must 
be  presented. 

Croup  II 

Agriculture,  i  or  2  units  Domestic  Science,  i  or  2  units 

Drawing,  ^  or  i  unit  Manual  Training,  i  or  2  units 

Commercial  Branches,  i  or  2  units 

Subjects  from  Group  II  will  not  be  accepted  for  admission  on 
examination. 

APPENDIX  F 

Secondary  Schools  on  the  Accredited  List  of  the  University 

OF  Michigan,  1914-15 

♦Adrian  Athens 

*Albion  Bad  Axe,  a 

Allegan  Bangor,  a 

*Alma  *Battle  Creek 

*Alpena  *Bay  City,  E.  S.,  a 

*Ann  Arbor  Bay  City,  Holy  P.osary  Acad- 

Ann  Arbor,  St.  Thomas'  School  emy 

Armada  Bay  City,  St.  James  Academy 


Appendixes 


249 


Bay  City,  St.  Mary's  School 
♦Bay  City,  W.  S. 

Belding 

Bellaire 

Belle  vue 
*Benton  Harbor 

Benzonia  Academy 

Berrien  Springs 
*Bessemer 
*Big  Rapids 

Big  Rapids,  Ferris  Institute 
*Birmingham 

Blissfield 
*Boyne  City,  a 

Bronson 

Brown  City 

Buchanan 
♦Cadillac 
♦Calumet 

Caro 

Carson  City 

Cass  City 

Cassopolis 

Cedar  Springs 

Central  Lake 

Champion 

Charlevoix 
♦Charlotte,  a 
♦Cheboygan 

Chelsea 

Chesaning 

Clare 
♦Coldwater 

Coleman 

Coloma 

Colon 

Constantine 

Coopersville 

Corunna 

Croswell,  a 
♦Crystal  Falls 

Decatur 

Detroit,  Cass 
♦Detroit,  Central 
♦Detroit,  Eastern 
♦Detroit,  Liggett 
♦Detroit,  McMillan 
♦Detroit,  University  School 
♦Detroit,  Western 

Dexter 
♦Dollar  Bay 


♦Dowagiac 

Dundee 

Durand 

East  Jordan 

Eaton  Rapids 

Elk  Rapids 

Elsie 

♦Escanaba,  a 
♦Evart,  a 

Fenton 
♦Flint 

Flushing, a 

Fowlerville 

Frankfort 
♦Fremont,  a 

Galesburg 

Gaylord 
♦Gladstone 

Gladwin 
♦Grand  Haven 

Grand  Ledge 

Grand  Rapids,  Catholic  H.  S. 
for  Boys 

Grand  Rapids,  Catholic  H.  S. 

for  Girls 
♦Grand  Rapids,  Central 
♦Grand    Rapids,    John    Calvin 
Preparatory 

Grand   Rapids,    Sacred   Heart 

Academy 
♦Grand  Rapids,  Union 

Grass  Lake 

Grayling 

Greenland 
♦Greenville 
♦Gwinn 
♦Hancock 

Harbor  Beach 

Harbor  Springs 
♦Hart,  a 

Hartford 
♦Hastings,  a 
♦Highland  Park 
♦Hillsdale,  a 
♦Holland 

Holly 

Homer 
♦Houghton 

Howard  City 

Howell 
♦Hudson,  a 


Public  Secondary  Education 


Imlay  City 
*Ionia 
*Iron  Mountain 

Iron  River 
*Ironwood 

Ironwood,  St.  Ambrose 
*Ishpeming 

Ithaca 
*Jackson 

Jonesville 
*Kalamazoo 

Kalamazoo,  Nazareth  Academy 

Kalamazoo,    Normal   Prepara- 
tory 

Kalkaska 
*Lake  Linden 

Lake  Odessa 

Lake  View 

L'Anse 
*Lansing 

Lansing,  St.  Mary's 

Lapeer 

Lawton,  a 

Leslie 
*Lowell 

Ludington,  a 

Ludington,  St.  Simon's 

Mancelona 

Manchester 
*Manistee,  a 
*Manistique 

Manton 

Marcellus 

Marine  City 

Marlette 
*Marquette 
♦Marshall 
*Mason 

Mendon 
♦Menominee 
♦Midland 

Milan 

Millington 
♦Monroe,  a 

Monroe,  St.  Mary's 

Morenci 
♦Mt.  Clemens 
♦Mt.  Pleasant 

Mt.  Pleasant,  Normal  Prepara- 
tory 

Mt.  Pleasant,  Sacred  Heart 


Munising 
*Muskegon.  a 

Nashville 
♦Negaunee 

Newaygo 

New  Baltimore 
*Newberry 
♦Niles 

North  Branch 

North  ville 
♦Norway 

Olivet 

Onaway 

Ontonagon 

Orion 
♦Otsego,  a 

Ovid 
♦Owosso 

Oxford 
♦Painesdale 
♦Paw  Paw 

Pellston 

Pentwater 
♦Petoskey 

Plainwell 

Plymouth 
♦Pontiac 
♦Port  Huron 
♦Portland 

Rapid  River 

Reading 

Reed  City 

Republic 

Richmond 
♦River  Rouge 

Rochester 

Rockford 

Rockland 

Romeo 

Royal  Oak 
*Saginaw,  E.  S. 

vSaginaw,  St.  Mary's 

Saginaw,  SS.  Peter  and  Paul 
♦Saginaw,  W.  S. 

St.  Charles 

St.  Clair 

St.  Ignace 
*St.  Johns,  a 
♦St.  Joseph 
♦St.  Louis,  a 

Saline 


Appendixes 


251 


Sandusky  *Traverse  City,  a 

Saranac  Trenton 

*Sault  Ste.  Marie  *Union  City,  a 

Schoolcraft  Vassar 

Scottville  Vicksburg 

Sebewaing  Vulcan 

Shelby  *Wakefield 

Shepherd  Watervliet,  a 

South  Grand  Rapids  Wayne 

*South  Haven,  a  West  Branch 

Sparta  *Williamston 

Spring  Arbor  Academy  *Wyandotte 

Stanton  Yale 

*Sturgis  *Ypsilanti 

Tecumseh  Ypsilanti,  Normal  Preparatory 

Three  Oaks  Zeeland 
*Three  Rivers 

Number  of  accredited  public  high  schools  in  Michigan 22s 

Number  of  accredited  parochial  and  private  high  schools  in  Michigan 23 

Number  of   high    schools   in    Michigan    accredited    by    the  North  Central 

Association lOO 

Total  number  of  schools  accredited  by  the  North  Central  Association 986 

*  Schools  marked  with  an  asterisk  ( *)  are  also  accredited  by  the  North  Central 
Association  of  Colleges  and  Secondary  Schools. 

a  Schools  marked  thus  (a)  ofiEer  work  in  Agriculture  that  is  accepted  for  admis- 
sion at  the  university. 


THE  INDEX 


ACADEMICAL  department,  admission 
to,  by  examination  only,  183;  program 
of  studies  in  Ypsilanti,  185;  two 
courses  in  the,  183;  union  school 
building  given  over  to,  180. 

Academies,  and  institutes  chartered  by 
special  legislation,  79;  and  institutes 
in  Indiana,  rise  of,  79;  and  semi- 
naries meet  an  unfilled  demand,  80; 
apparently  short-lived,  earliest,  151; 
bequeathed  the  example  of  coeduca- 
tion, 171;  curricula  of  the,  57;  disci- 
pline in,  167;  earliest,  in  a  sense 
secondary  schools,  152;  effect  of  pro- 
posed branches  of  university  upon, 
152;  "elective  system"  in  operation 
in,  171;  essentially  public  schools  in 
people's  opinion,  151;  establishment 
of,  continues,  153;  founded  between 
1830  and  1836,  152;  "General  Exer- 
cises" in,  167;  government  openly 
aids  private,  50;  gradually  disappear, 
153;  how  they  served  posterity,  43; 
in  Illinois,  first,  83;  instruction  in  the, 
168:  instruction  of  negroes  in,  166; 
in  the  colonies  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Revolution,  44;  list  of  incorporated, 
in  the  United  States  in  1850,  51-52; 
not  strictly  speaking  a  part  of  state- 
supported  school  system.  151;  number 
of,  153;  of  nineteenth  century  truly 
people's  colleges,  166;  organized  by 
stock  companies,  63;  part  of  expenses 
of,  and  se.minaries  met  by  County 
Seminary  Fund,  79;  play  notable  part 
in  history  of  secondary  education  in 
Michigan,  151;  "question  box"  in, 
167;  received  no  financial  aid  from 
the  state,  161;  recognized  in  Michigan 
school  system,  124;  records  of  earliest, 
151;  schools  of  democracy,  166;  seek 
to  be  transformed  into  branches,  153; 
subject-matter  arranged  in  "depart- 
ments," 168;  supplanted  by  high 
schools,  190;  supplanted  by  union 
schools,  163;  taught  classics  and 
French,  151;  textbooks  in,  170;  the 
strongest  tie  between  the  people,  63; 
tuition  in,  168;  were  declared  by 
enemies    to    be    undemocratic,    167. 

Academy,  the,  34;  and  Charitable 
School  of  Philadelphia,  aims  of,  37, 
38,  39;  and  grammar  school  in  New 
England,  49;  and  the  district  school, 
48;  at  Corydon,  first,  79;  at  Detroit, 
Catholic  girls',  93;  building,  location 
of,  167;  characteristics  of  the,  40; 
charters,  property  in,  165;  charters, 
religion  in,  164;    charters  and  some 


of  their  provisions  from,  164-166; 
decline  of  the,  80;  fills  a  social  need, 
34;  for  all  classes,  39;  furnishes  the 
only  secondary  schooling  in  America, 
40;  government  aid  for  the  support 
of  the,  48;  in  the  Middle  Period,  4; 
movement  and  its  fluctuations,  151, 
161;  program  of  studies  in  the,  169; 
reaches  the  height  of  its  importance 
in  Michigan.  153;  rise  of  the  Ameri- 
can, 37;  students'  choice  of  studies 
in  the,  170;  the  model  for  the  de- 
veloping high  school.  171;  the  second 
great  type  of  secondary  school,  151; 
typical,  at  Andover,  40;  union  school 
expected  to  take  place  of  local,  178; 
year,  terms  of  the,  168. 

Accidence,  Cheever's,  17,  29;  pages  and 
lessons  from,  18-19. 

Adherence,  to  a  chosen  course  required, 
203;  to  selected  course,  high  schools 
demand.  207. 

Administration  of  schools,  incorporated 
city  or  town  for  first  time  made  unit 
for  local,  174. 

Administration  of  the  University  of 
Michigan,   103. 

Admission,  to  academies  or  high-school 
department  by  examination  only, 
183;  to  branches,  134;  to  high  school, 
subjects  required  for,  183;  to  Scien- 
tific Course,  requirements  for,  203;  to 
university  by  certificate,  210;  to  uni- 
versity by  examination,  134;  to 
university  in  1850,  144;  to  university 
on  student's  own  merits,  220. 

Adrian  Lyceum  and  Benevolent  Asso- 
ciation, 156. 

Advance,  general  educational,  113;  of 
high  schools  in   Michigan,    192. 

Aesthetic  side  of  school  training,  begin- 
ning of,  168. 

Affiliated  schools,  number  increases 
rapidly,  217. 

Affiliation,  advantages  of,  217;  does 
away  with  entrance  examinations. 
218;  of  high  schools  and  university, 
202,  217. 

Agricultural  Department,  required  by 
law  in  at  least  one  branch.  127. 

Agriculture,  county  schools  of,  222. 

Allegheny  Mountains,  65. 

America,  English  in,  65;  English  and 
French  widely  separated  in,  65; 
French  in,  65;  second  great  awaken- 
ing of,  113. 

American  life,  second  great  awakening 
of,  113. 


253 


254 


Public  Secondary  Education 


American  people,  influences  affecting 
the  higher  life  of  the,  4. 

Andrew  Jackson,  democratic  move- 
ment under,  113. 

Ann  Arbor,  university  buildings  erected 
at,  131;  university  located,  at,  128. 

Ann  Arbor  High  School,  classical  course 
in,   184;  English  course  in,   183. 

Annual  reports  of  schools  to  the  legis- 
lature,  157. 

Apparatus,  high  schools  boast  adequate 
supply  of,  227;  in  early  union  schools, 
186;  in  secondary  schools,  illustra- 
tive, 60;  in  the  Romeo  branch,  137; 
purchased  for  university,   141. 

Appropriations,  further  reduction  of 
university,   132. 

Aristocracy,  branches  considered  places 
for  education  of  (so-called),  141. 

Articulation,  between  different  depart- 
ments of  school,  183;  between  uni- 
versity and  high  school,  202. 

Assistants,  teaching,   180. 

Association  of  City  Superintendents, 
offers  plan  for  uniform  program,  231, 
232. 

Astronomy,  great  interest  in,  137. 

Athens,  Ohio,  State  University  estab- 
lished at.  73. 

Athletics,  Board  of  Directors  of  inter- 
high-school,  241;  in  high  schools,  241; 
organized  high-school,  important, 
241;  rigid  supervision  of  high-school, 
242. 

Atlantic  States,  settlers  of  Illinois  from 
South,  81. 

Attendance,  at  high  schools  increases 
vastly,  196;  at  Latin  schools  varied, 
26. 

BACCALAUREATE  degree,  conferred 
by   University   of   Michigan,   205. 

Barnard,  Henry,  113. 

"Base  line,"  90;  diagram  showing,  91. 

Benevolent  Association,  Adrian  Lyce- 
um and,  156. 

Bequests  and  gifts  decreasing,  private, 

23- 

Better  schools,   Horace   Mann's  fight 

for,  113. 
Bible,  study  of  religion  and  the,  20. 
Bill  creating  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan, 97-99;  principles  embodied  in 

the,  100. 
Board  of  Directors  of  inter-high-school 

athletics,  241. 
Board  of  Education  of  Michigan,  first, 

99;  powers  and  duties  of  the  first,  99. 
Boston,  2;  first  Latin  School  established 

in,  i;  first  to  set  up  a  high  school,  53; 

grants  land  for  support  of  schools,  6; 

levies  tax  for  school  purposes,  7. 
Boston    Latin    School,    a    cooperative 

undertaking,  5;  a  "free  school,"  2,  s; 

becomes  a  town  school,  6;  children 

of  non-contributors  admitted  to,  6; 

establishment  and  support  of,  2,  5; 

program  of,  56. 


Boundary  dispute,  Michigan,  no. 
Boys'  English  High  School,  at  Boston, 

S3;  program  of  studies  in,  56. 
Boys'  school  at  Detroit,  95;  Latin  and 

history  taught  in,  95. 

Boys'  schools,  branches  of  university, 
127. 

Branch  at  Romeo,  apparatus  in,  137; 
coeducation  in,  139;  conditions  in,  in 
1851,  135,  136;  faculty  of,  136; 
laboratory  demonstrations  part  of 
instruction  in,  137;  last,  134;  literary 
society  in,  139;  offered  preparatory 
and  college  work,  136;  report  of,  135- 
140;  represented  university  schools 
at  their  best,  135;  scope  of  instruc- 
tion in,  136;  teacher-training  course 
in,  138;  tuition  in,  137. 

Branches  of  the  university,  120,  124, 
125-150;  academies  seek  to  be  trans- 
formed into,  153;  admission  to,  134; 
and  university,  financial  arrange- 
ments of,  129;  at  Pontiac,  Monroe, 
Kalamazoo,  Detroit,  Niles,  White 
Pigeon,  and  Tecumseh,  128,  129; 
attitude  of  local  committees  toward, 
129;  beginning  of  the  decline  of,  133; 
Classical  Department  of,  126;  Com- 
mittee on,  has  hard  task,  130;  courts 
set  aside  law  requiring  university  to 
aid,  147;  demand  for  revival  and  sup- 
port of,  147;  departments  of,  126; 
English  Department  of,  126;  effect 
of  proposed  branches  on  academies, 
152;  established  before  the  uni- 
versity, 128;  "female  institutions" 
opened  in,  130;  find  favor  with  peo- 
ple, 130;  from  1842  to  1847,  132,  133; 
five  in  operation,  128;  funds  lacking 
for  support  of  both  university  and, 
131,  147;  hope  of  revival  abandoned, 
148;  law  requiring  university  support 
of,  147;  left  to  own  resources,  148; 
local  board  to  have  general  control  of, 
126;  Normal  Department  of,  126; 
number  enrolled  in,  129;  plan  for 
a  university  with,  abandoned,  134; 
popularity  of,  increases,  130;  prepara- 
tion for  university  prime  purpose  of, 
141;  prepare  a  class  for  the  univer- 
sity, 128;  receive  aid  from  university 
fund,  127;  regarded  as  places  for 
education  of  (so-called)  aristocracy, 
141 ;  regents  favor  opening  more,  131; 
religious  quarrels  and  criticisms  cast 
shadow  over,  130;  requirements  for 
establishing,  125,  126;  revival  of, 
133;  schools  for  boys,  127;  second- 
ary education  in,  124;  served  rela- 
tively small  number  of  people,  140; 
three  branches  suspend,  132;  towns 
vie  for  possession  of,  129;  university 
aid  of,  curtailed,  132;  university 
support  of,  causes  financial  embar- 
rassment, 147;  university  support 
completely  withdrawn,  133;  women 
instructors  in,  129. 


The  Index 


255 


Buildings,  change  in  use  of  school, 
necessitated  by  growth  of  town,  i8o; 
communities  proud  of  school,  i8i; 
location  and  plan  of  school,  i8i; 
location  of  academy,  167;  union 
school,  177,  180;  university,  erected 
at  Ann  Arbor,  131;  ward  school,  180. 

CALVINISTIC  influences  in  England 
and  America,  effect  of,  5. 

Carlyle,  Illinois,  Washmgfton  Academy 
at,  83. 

Catalogue  of  the  university,  first,  142. 

Catholepistemiad,  or  University  of 
Michigania,  Act  to  establish,  97. 

Catholic,  girls'  academy  at  Detroit,  93; 
schools  at  Detroit,  early,  95. 

Catholicism,  in  England  and  America, 
S;  effect  of,  5. 

Central  college,  Indians  give  land  for 
support  of,  100;  University  of  Michi- 
gan a,  in  name  only,  104. 

Centralizing  theories  of  French  influ- 
ence growth  of  Michigan  school 
system,  96. 

Certificate  of  graduation  from  approved 
secondary  school  admits  to  univer- 
sity, 210. 

Certificating  privileges  granted  to 
high  schools,  202. 

Certification  of  teachers  by  state, 
recommended  in  Michigan,  114. 

Character,  of  settlers  of  Illinois,  81;  of 
settlers  of  Michigan,  89,  105. 

Characteristics,  of  the  academy,  40; 
of  the  three  divisions  of  American 
secondary  education.  4. 

Charleston,  first  school  in  South  Caro- 
lina at,  32;  qualifications  for  master 
of  school  in,  32. 

Charter  for  Michigan  College,  report 
recommending,   155. 

Chartered  literary  society,  156. 

Chartered  secondary  schools  of  Michi- 
gan with  dates  of  incorporation,  list 
of,  158-160. 

Charters,  property  in,  165;  religion  in 
academy,  164;  some  provisions  from 
academy,   164-166. 

Cheever,  Ezekiel,  29;  schoolmaster  in 
New  Haven,  29. 

Cheever's  Accidence,  17,  29;  pages  and 
lessons  from,  18-19. 

Choice  of  studies,  academy  students', 
170;  for  seniors,  204;  in  Harvard 
College,  21. 

Church  and  education,  the,  30. 

Church  lands,  a  source  of  jealousy  and 
contention,  70;  Congress  annuls  ordi- 
nance respecting,  70;  set  aside  for 
support  of  the  church,  70. 

Church  schools  in  the  South,  31. 

Civil  motive  for  education,  13. 

Civil  War,  Michigan  rapidly  recovers 
from  effect  of,  191;  temporarily 
checks  all  schools,  191. 

Classes,  the  academy  for  all,  39. 


Classical  and  English  courses  in  the 

high  school,  207. 

Classical  Course,  183;  first  course  in  the 
University  of  Michigan,  202;  in  Ann 
Arbor  High  School,  184;  old  rigid, 
has  disappeared  from  academies, 
169;    stronger   schools   offered,     183. 

Classical  Department  of  the  university 
branches,  126. 

Classical  languages  in  the  earliest 
academies,  151. 

Classical  school  at  Detroit,  102;  fore- 
runner of  the  "high  school,"  102; 
program   of  studies  offered   in,    103. 

Classics,   over-emphasis  of,    144. 

Codification  of  the  Laws  of  Connecticut, 
28. 

Coeducation,  academies  bequeathed  the 
example  of,  171;  at  Romeo  branch, 
139;  first  found  in  schools  below  the 
university,  198;  in  Latin  schools,  26; 
in  union  schools,  187;  in  University 
of  Michigan,  effect  on  high  schools  of, 
201;  not  readily  adopted  by  colleges, 
198. 

Colet,  Dean,  15. 

College,  and  grammar  school  worked 
together,  20;  at  Detroit  abandoned, 
103;  influence  of  teachers  trained  in, 
240;  offers  no  choice  of  subject- 
matter,  21;  teaching  unattractive  to 
graduates  of,  36;  union  schools  not 
expected  to  prepare  for,  178;  work 
of,  offered  by  Romeo  branch,  136; 
work  of,  some  high  schools  offer 
first-year,  216. 

Colleges,  find  recognition  in  Michigan 
school  system,  124;  in  Illinois,  83; 
in  Michigan,  154;  new,  founded  from 
1776  to  1796,  44;  new,  more  liberal, 
43;  other  than  the  state  university 
established  in  Michigan,  156;  reluc- 
tant to  adopt  coeducation,  198; 
rivaling  state  university,  154;  varied 
types  of,  stimulate  education  in 
Michigan,  156. 

Colonial  Latin  School,  the,  i. 

Colonial  Period,  4;  general  situation  of 
secondary  education  at  close  of,  27, 
33;  Latin  school  in  the,  4. 

Colonial  schools,  salaries  in,  25;  texts 
used  in.  brought  from  England,  17; 
the  day  in  the  old,  25. 

Colonies,  Latin  schools  in,  2. 

Colonization  of  Northwest,  England 
opposes,  85. 

Colony,  Massachusetts  Bay,  I. 

Comenius,  14. 

Commission  of  Examiners  from  uni- 
versity for  high  schools,  213. 

Commission  of  Seven,  73;  plans  for 
state   school   system,    74. 

Committee  on  Branches,  30. 

Committees,  attitude  toward  branches    , 
of  local,  129. 

Common  schools,  did  not  include  high 
schools,  193;  Primary  School  Interest 
Fund  for  support  of,  193;  rise  of,  218. 


256 


Public  Secondary  Education 


Communities  vie  with  one  another  in 
promoting  high  schools,    190. 

Concentration  of  power  in  Michigan 
schools,  loi. 

Conditions  in  Michigan  unfavorable  to 
settlement,  87. 

Conditions  of  entrance  to  the  univer- 
sity, terms  and,  135. 

Confederate  Congress  encourages  edu- 
cation, 47. 

Congress,  annuls  ordinance  regarding 
church  lands,  70;  divides  the  North- 
west, 71 ;  grants  land  for  support  of  a 
university,  70. 

Connecticut,  Codification  of  the  Laws 
of,  28. 

Connecticut  Colony,  secondary  educa- 
tion in,  28. 

Conservation  of  school  funds,  plan  for, 
114. 

Consolidation,  of  Detroit  school  dis- 
tricts, 174;  of  high-school  programs, 
229;  of  school  districts  has  advan- 
tages, i7s;  of  school  districts,  super- 
intendents urge,  176,  177. 

Constitution  of  Illinois,  first,  makes  no 
provision  for  support  of  education,  82. 

Constitution  of  Michigan,  educational 
provisions  of,  no,  in;  first  to  pro- 
vide for  state  superintendent  of  edu- 
cation, 1 08. 

Constitution  of  Ohio  provides  for  edu- 
cation, 73. 

Constitutional  provisions,  put  into 
effect,  no. 

Constitutions,  early  state,  and  sec- 
ondary   education,    45. 

Contemporary  Period,  4;  public  high 
school  in  the,  4. 

Content  of  high-school  program,  223, 
224. 

Control  of  the  university,  officers 
having,  125. 

Corydon,  Ind.,  first  academy  at,  79. 

Country  youth,  difficulty  in  securing 
high-school  education  for,  221;  high- 
school  education  for,  221,  222. 

County  normal  training  classes,  222. 

County,  school  funds  loaned  to,  118. 

County  schools  of  agriculture,  222;  of 
domestic  science,  222. 

County  seminaries  in  Indiana,  79. 

County  Seminary  Fund,  79;  meets  part 
of  expenses  of  seminaries  and  acade- 
mies alike,  79. 

Course  in  university  rigidly  prescribed, 
143. 

Courses,  in  academical  or  high-school 
department,  183;  in  high  schools, 
begin  to  take  definite  shape,  207;  in 
secondary  schools  include  both  ele- 
mentary and  college  subjects,  185;  in 
union  schools,  length  of,  179;  in  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan,  104,  203;  influ- 
enced by  two  opinions,  214;  little 
flexibility  in,  i8s;  modified,  207. 

Courts,  set  aside  law  requiring  univer- 
sity   aid    for   branches,    147;    settle 


legal    status    of    public    secondary 

schools,     193. 
Criticism  of  over-emphasis  of  study  of 

classics,  144. 
Curricula  of  the  academies,  57. 
"Cut  and  try"  method  of  developing 

school  systems,  8. 

DAME  school,  the,  3. 

Dangers,  beset  new  high  schools,  191; 
faced  by  settlers  in  the  Northwest, 
86. 

Day,  in  the  colonial  schools,  the,  25;  in 
union  schools,  180. 

Decline  of  branches,  beginning  of  the, 
133;  of  Latin  schools,  24;  of  pre- 
scribed courses,  186;  of  seminary  and 
academy,  80. 

Degrees  conferred  by  the  University  of 
Michigan,  204,  205. 

Delaware,  30. 

Demand,  for  adequate  schools,  37;  for 
free,  secular,  state-supported  sec- 
ondary schools,  173;  for  more 
branches,  131;  for  revival  and 
support  of  branches,  147;  for  schools, 
universal,  113;  for  union-school  dis- 
tricts throughout  the  state,   174. 

Democracy,  academies,  schools  of 
social,  166. 

Democratic  institutions,  high  schools 
as,  240. 

Democratic  movement  under  Andrew 
Jackson,  113. 

Denominational  schools  in  Michigan, 
no  need  for  private,  100;  Pierce 
opposes,  121. 

Department  of  Education,  of  Michigan 
Territory,  108. 

Departments,  in  schools,  no  close  articu- 
lation of,  183;  in  union  schools,  179; 
of  university  branches,  the  three, 
126;  of  university,  the  three,  128; 
subject-matter  in  academies  arranged 
in,  168. 

Detroit,  branch  at,  128;  classical  school 
at,  102;  classical  school  at,  the  fore- 
runner of  the  "high  school,"  102; 
college  at,  abandoned,  103;  early 
schools  at,  95 ;  early  schools  at, 
Catholic,  95 ;  has  eight  school  dis- 
tricts, 174;  high-school  program  for 
1879,  229-231;  program  of  studies 
offered  in  classical  school  at,  103; 
school  districts  consolidated,  174; 
Young  Men's  Society,   157. 

Diagram,  of  a  section,  91;  of  a  township, 
91;   showing  base  line,  91;  showing 
principal  meridian,  91. 
Differentiation  of  functions  of  teachers, 

180. 
District  made  school  unit,  108. 
District  school  and  the  academy,  the, 

48. 
District-school  plan,  first  step  toward 

modification  of,   174. 
Diversion  in  the  schools,  literary  society 
almost  sole,  140. 


The  Index 


257 


Divisions  of  American  secondary  edu- 
cation, characteristics  of  the  three,  4. 

Domestic  science,  county  schools  of, 
222. 

Dorchester,  Mass.,  first  to  support 
public  school  by  direct  taxation,  9; 
provides  first  body  for  school  admin- 
istration, 9. 

Dummer  School,  the,  40. 

Duties,  of  Michigan's  first  Board  of 
Education,  powers  and,  99;  of  the 
master  of  a  school,  25;  of  the  school 
usher,  25. 

EARLY  academies,  apparently  short- 
lived, 151;  in  a  sense  secondary 
schools,  152;  teaching  of  classics  and 
French  in,  151. 

Early  colonists,  education  cherished  by, 
12. 

Early  French,  explorations,  65;  schools 
in  Michigan,  89;  settlements  and 
trading  posts,  65. 

Early  high  schools,  organization  of,  207 ; 
points  of  contention  in  fight  on,  193, 

194- 

Early  Northwest,  the,  64. 

Early  school  history,  of  Illinois,  81;  of 
Indiana,  74;  of  Michigan,  89;  of 
Ohio,  72;  of  Wisconsin,  84. 

Early  schools  at  Detroit,  95;  Catholic, 
95;  instruction  in,  95. 

Early  settlements  in  Michigan,  85. 

Early  settlers  of  Northwest,  77;  sup- 
porters of  education  and  religion, 
68-69. 

East  Saginaw,  partial  election  of  studies 
in,  209. 

Eastern  ideas  predominate  in  early 
Michigan,  89. 

Education,  Confederate  Congress  en- 
courages, 47;  developed  from  top 
downward,  197;  early  history  of,  in 
Illinois,  81;  early  settlers  of  North- 
west supporters  of  religion  and,  68, 
69;  foundation  of  American  public 
schools  of  secondary,  2;  Illinois 's  first 
constitution  makes  no  provision  for 
support  of,  82;  increase  of  secondary, 
196;  in  Indiana,  80;  in  Michigan  at 
public  expense,  104;  in  Michigan, 
French  influence  upon,  104;  in  Michi- 
gan, important  points  in  Pierce's  plan 
for,  115;  in  Michigan,  third  type 
of  secondary,  172;  in  Michigan, 
varied  types  of  colleges  stimulate, 
156;  in  Ohio,  lags,  72;  in  Pennsylva- 
nia, 31;  in  Plymouth  colony,  27; 
in  the  early  Northwest,  secondary, 
78;  in  the  South,  31;  Michigan  con- 
stitution first  to  provide  for  state 
superintendent  of,  108;  Michigan 
demands  adequate  system  of,  114; 
motives  for,  13;  nuclei  for  state  uni- 
versities and  free  higher,  70;  of 
(so-called)  aristocracy,  university 
branches  considered  places  for,  141; 
Ohio  constitution  provides  for,   73; 


possible  for  all  in  Michigan,  loi; 
provision  of  Indiana  for,  75;  Puritans 
foster  interest  in,  10;  secondary  and 
elementary,  demanded  two  distinct 
types  of  schools,  120;  secondary, 
classed  as  superior  education,  193; 
secondary,  in  the  "branches"  of  the 
university,  124;  sixteenth  section  of 
every  township  dedicated  to  support 
of,  47,  70;  tax  for  support  of,  re- 
pealed, 103;  territorial  laws  of  Illinois 
do  not  mention  schools  and,  82; 
wide  gap  in  system  of  free,    161. 

Education  and  religion  closely  related, 
II. 

Education  and  the  church,  30. 

Educational,  administrators,  Michigan 
fortunate  in  her  early,  112;  advance 
general,  113;  advantage,  delays  in 
settlement  of  Michigan  redound  to 
her,  88;  ideas  of  first  state  superin- 
tendent of  education  in  Michigan, 
112;  principles  underlying  school 
system  of  Michigan,  104;  provisions 
of  the  constitution  of  Michigan,  no, 
in;  situation  in  Michigan  at  close 
of  territorial  period,  108;  ventures, 
Michigan  College  opens  way  for 
other,  124. 

Educational  conditions  in  Indiana,  de- 
plorable up  to  1850,  80;  reformation 
of,  sought  by  constitution  of  185 1,  80. 

Educational  institutions,  law  required 
state  supervision  of,  157;  three  types 

of.  3. 

Educational  system,  Illinois  slow  to 
establish  a  state,  82;  of  early  Michi- 
gan, retarding  in  its  effects,  173;  of 
Michigan,  foundation  of,  90;  of 
Michigan,  tends  to  follow  German 
model,  212;  plan  for,  not  developed 
by  Indiana,  76;  proposed  system  of 
Indiana  almost  unequaled  in  the 
world.  74.  75- 

Edwardsville,  111.,  Madison  Academy 
at,  83. 

Election  of  studies,  first  appears  in 
University  of  Michigan,  203;  free, 
in  high  schools  first  seen,  209;  in  East 
Saginaw,  partial,  209. 

"Elective  chaos,"  early  organization  of 
high  schools  an,  207. 

Elective  system,  extended,  236;  fore- 
runner of  the  free,  204;  in  operation 
in  academies,  171;  in  universities, 
205. 

Elementary  and  secondary  education 
demanded  two  distinct  types  of 
schools,  120. 

Elementary  education,  real  beginning 
of  working  system  of  public,  in 
Michigan,   107. 

Elementary  school,  high  school  the 
product  of.  7S;  maintained  by  every 
town  of  fifty  families,  3;  work  of, 
enriched,  55. 

Enemy  to  popular  education,  university 
spoken  of  as,  141. 


18 


258 


Public  Secondary  Education 


Engineering  courses  established  in 
university,  203. 

England,  disregards  treaty  of  1873,  67; 
jealousy  between  France  and,  66; 
opposes  colonization  of  Northwest, 
85;  refuses  to  withdraw  from  North- 
west, 71;  the  second  ruler  of  North- 
west Territory,  66. 

English  and  French  widely  separated 
in  America,  65. 

EngUsh  Classical  School,  53- 

English  Course,  183;  every  school 
offered,  183;  in  Ann  Arbor  High 
School,  183;  in  the  high  school,  207. 

English  Department  of  the  branches, 
126. 

English  idea  of  self-government,  people 
of  Territory  of  Michigan,  indifferent 
to,  105. 

English  in  America,  the,  65. 

English  language,  law  requiring  that  all 
instruction  be  given  in,  188. 

Enghsh  Latin  schools  the  prototypes  of 
early  American  secondary  schools,  5. 

"English  school"  in   Michigan,   106. 

English  settlement  at  Marietta,  Ohio, 
66. 

English  subjects  emphasized,   38. 

Entrance  examinations  abolished  by 
affiliation,   218. 

Entrance  to  university,  requirements 
affect  high  schools,  214;  terms  and 
conditions  of,  135. 

Era,  of  American  Revival  of  Learning, 
113;  of  activity  of  private  schools, 
124. 

Erie  Canal,  93;  important  in  increasing 
population  of  Michigan,  93. 

Establishment,  and  support  of  schools 
a  legitimate  function  of  government, 
6;  of  academies  continues,  153; 
of  branches  of  the  University,  re- 
quirements for,  125,  126. 

Examination,  admission  to  secondary 
schools  only  by,  183;  admission  to 
university  by,  134. 

Expansion  of  subject-matter  in  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan,  202. 

Expenses,  of  academies  and  seminaries 
met  partly  by  County  Semmary 
Fund,  79;  of  students  in  University 
of  Michigan  reduced  to  a  minimum, 
104. 

Explorations,  early  French,  65. 

Explorers,  and  missionaries,  French, 
65,  85;  and  surveyors  in  Michigan, 
87. 

FACTORS  influencing  educational  his- 
tory of  Northwest  Territory,  68. 

Faculty  and  students  of  university 
increase,  142;  of  the  Romeo  branch, 
136;  of  the  University  of  Michigania, 
first,  loi. 

False  reports  turn  migration  from 
Michigan,  87. 

Fayette  County,  Ind.,  first  seminary  in, 
79- 


Federal  government  distributes  the 
surplus  revenue,  113. 

Fees,  matriculation,  145;  tuition,  34. 

"Female  institutions"  opened  in 
branches,  130. 

Fight,  for  better  schools,  Horace  Mann's, 
113;  on  early  high  school,  points  of 
contention  in,   193,   194. 

Financial  aid  to  academies  not  granted 
by  state,    161. 

Financial  arrangements  of  branches  and 
university,   129. 

Fines,  for  failure  of  towns  to  maintain 
Latin  schools,  23,  28;  for  failure  to 
obey  school  laws  in  Michigan,  107. 

"First  College  of  Michigania,"  102; 
sources  of  support  of,   102. 

First  school  law  of  Illinois,  82. 

First  school  of  secondary  education  in 
America,  i. 

First  settlers  in  the  Northwest,  68. 

First  woman  student  in  the  University 
of  Michigan,  200. 

First-year  college  work  offered  in  some 
high  schools,  216. 

Fisheries,  proceeds  from,  to  support 
schools,  27,  28. 

Flexible  courses,  adoption  of,  210; 
Professor  Whitney  presents  plan  for, 
235;  Professor  Whitney  suggests,  209. 

Flexibility  in  high-school  courses,   185. 

Fluctuations  in  the  academy  move- 
ment,  161. 

Foreign  languages,  instruction  in, 
unconstitutional,  194. 

Foundation,  of  American  public  schools 
of  secondary  education,  2;  of  educa- 
tional system  of  Michigan,  90. 

Fourteenth-century  characteristics  in 
seventeenth-century  New  England, 
14. 

Four-year  course  uniformly  estab- 
lished in  high  schools,  215. 

France,  jealousy  between  England  and, 
66;  the  first  white  power  in  North- 
west Territory,  65. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  37. 

Free  choice,  of  studies  finding  favor, 
186;  of  subjects  for  admission  to 
university,  205. 

Free  education,  wide  gap  in  system  of, 
161;  no  secondary,  162. 

Free  election  of  studies  in  high  schools 
first  seen,  209. 

Free  elective  system,  forerunner  of  the, 
204. 

Free  public  schools,  graded  schools  not, 
176;  secular,  free,  state-supported 
schools  demanded,  173. 

"Free  school,"  s ;  a  school  of  secondary 
grade,  2;  Boston  Latin  School  a, 
2,  5;  in  Charleston,  S.  C,  32;  law  in 
Illinois,  83;  significance  of  the 
expression,  6. 

Free  schools,  for  Indians,  13;  for  poor 
children,  13;  tendency  of  state  policy 
always  toward  system  of,  196. 

French  and  Indian  War,  85. 


The  Index 


259 


French  and  Indians  masters  of  North- 
west Territory,  85. 

French,  early  instruction  in  Michigan 
probably  in,  95;  English  and,  widely 
separated  in  America,  65;  explora- 
tions, early,  65;  explorers  and  mis- 
sionaries, 65;  explorers  in  Michigan, 
85;  in  America,  65;  in  Michigan,  85; 
influence  on  education  in  Michigan, 
104;  school  at  Kaskaskia,  81; 
schools  in  Michigan,  early,  89; 
settlements  and  trading  posts,  early, 
6s;  taught  in  many  of  the  earliest 
academies,  151. 

Friendly  suit,  between  Romeo  branch 
and  university,  13s;  to  determine 
legality  of  high  schools,  194. 

Friends'  Public  School,  31. 

Functions  of  teachers,  differentiation 
of,  180;  of  the  three  types  of  educa- 
tional  institutions,   3. 

Fund,  branches  receive  aid  from  uni- 
versity, 127;  Indiana's  seminary,  79. 

Funds,  see  School  funds. 

"GENERAL  Exercises"  in  academies, 
167. 

General  state  policy  had  always  tended 
toward  system  of  free  schools,   196. 

Georgia  establishes  a  university,  97. 

German  model  influences  educational 
system  of  Michigan,  212. 

Ghent,  Treaty  of,  71. 

Girls,  admitted  to  university  in  1870, 
129;  and  secondary  education,  27; 
more  girls  complete  high-school 
course  after  1870,  201;  provisions 
made   for   schools   for,    127. 

Girls'  academy,  at  Detroit,  Catholic,  93. 

Girls'  English  High  School,  at  Boston, 
S4;  program  of  studies  in,  55. 

Gloucester's  Greek  Grammar,  19. 

Government,  aid  for  private  academies, 
48,  so;  left  in  debt  by  Revolution,  68; 
Northwest  Territory  under  the 
general,  67. 

Graded  schools,  important  towns  estab- 
lish, 178;  not  free  public  schools,  176; 
"rate"  in,  176;  superintendents 
favor,  176,  177;  tuition  in,  176;  work 
offered  in,  left  to  local  board,  176. 

Grades,  union  school  building  contains 
all,   180. 

Grading  in  union  schools,  175. 

Graduation,  from  high  schools  achieved 
by  few,  214;  from  university  based 
on  "hours"  of  work,  205. 

Grammar,  Lilly's,  19. 

Grammar  school,  and  college  worked 
together,  20;  every  town  of  one 
hundred  families  required  to  support 
a,  3;  in  New  England,  academy  and, 
49;  new  meaning  of  term,  53. 

"Grammar  school"  in  Michigan,  107; 
new  meaning  of  term,  53. 

Grand  Rapids  High  School,  program  of 
studies  in,  for  1862,  224,  225. 

Grants  of  land,  see  Land  and  Lands. 


Gray,  Dr.  Asa,  first  professor  in  uni- 
versity, 141. 

Greek  and  mathematics,  with  Latin, 
constitute  bulk  of  studies  in  univer- 
sity, 143;  required  for  admission  to 
Harvard,  19;  study  of,  added  to 
Latin,  12;  study  of,  followed  same 
plan  as  study  of  Latin,  19. 

Greek  and  Latin  dominate  thought  of 
early  nineteenth  century,  96. 

Greek  Grammar,  Gloucester's,  19. 

Growth,  of  high  school,  242;  of  high 
schools  by  years,  192;  of  population 
in  Michigan  from  1810  to  1890,  map 
showing,  194;  of  private  schools,  cir- 
cumstances temporarily  check,  124; 
of  religious  sects,  70. 

Gymnasien,  212. 

HARVARD  College,  dictating  mistress 
of  Latin  schools,  20;  earliest  schedule 
of,  22. 

Harvard  University  founded,  3. 

Head  master  in  union  school,  180,  i8r. 

Hebrew,  study  of  Greek  and,  12. 

High  school,  the  academy  the  model 
for  the,  171;  admission  to  the,  by 
examination  only,  183;  aim  of  the, 
54;  and  university,  affiliation  of, 
202,  212,  216;  a  new  type  of  educa- 
tional institution,  53;  athletics  in  the, 
241,  242;  attendance  at,  increases, 
194;  beginning  of  true  period  of,  in 
Michigan,  180,  188;  Classical  and 
English  Courses  in,  207;  close  articu- 
lation of  university  with,  202; 
courses  in,  begin  to  take  definite 
form,  207;  a  democratic  institution, 
240;  education  for  country  youth 
in,  221;  era  in  Michigan,  191-242; 
first  set  up  in  Boston,  53;  flexi- 
bility in  courses  in,  185;  girls'  com- 
plete course  in,  201;  growth  of,  242; 
mtroduction  of  the  term,  53;  length 
of  course  in,  192;  open  to  boys  only, 
54;  post-graduate  work  in,  receives 
university  credit,  216;  program  of 
studies  in,  prescribed,  54;  program, 
changes  in  scope  and  content,  223, 
224;  public,  4;  public,  appears,  80; 
pupils  overburdened  in,  215;  subjects 
required  for  admission  to,  183; 
teachers  in,  preparation  of,  237;  the 
classical  school  at  Detroit  forerunner 
of  the,  102;  the  product  of  the 
elementary  school,  78;  union  school 
forerunner  of  the  present-day,  172. 

High-school  athletics,  important,  organ- 
ized, 241;  subject  to  rigid  super- 
vision,   242. 

High  schools,  affected  by  additional 
entrance  requirements  of  university, 
214;  and  university  more  closely 
related,  213;  authorized,  rural,  231; 
average  number  of  pupils  per  teacher 
in,  240;  begin  to  permit  free  election 
of  studies,  209;  boast  adequate  sup- 
ply of  apparatus,   227;   changes  m 


26o 


Public  Secondary  Education 


university  react  on,  205;  Commission 
of  Examiners  of,  from  university, 
213;  communities  vie  with  one 
another  in  promoting,  190;  con- 
solidate and  unify  programs,  229; 
contain  all  classes  of  people,  240; 
dangers  beset  new,  191;  early  organi- 
zation of,  an  "elective  chaos,"  207; 
establish  teachers'  departments,  226; 
establish  uniform  four-year  course, 
215;  friendly  suit  to  determine 
legality  of,  194;  growth  of,  by  years, 
192;  hold  few  till  graduation,  214; 
influenced  in  making  courses  by  two 
opinions,  214;  little  uniformity 
among  early,  206;  many  courses  in, 
cause  confusion,  208;  not  classed  as 
common  schools,  193;  offer  first-year 
college  work,  some,  216;  offer  post- 
graduate work,  215;  of  to-day,  union 
schools  foundation  of,  188;  partly 
supported  by  University  Fund,  194; 
period  of  greatest  advancement  of, 
in  Michigan,  192;  preparing  for  any 
one  college  course  given  limited 
certificating  privileges,  219;  provi- 
sion _  for  increasing  needs  of,  196; 
receive  certificating  privileges,  202; 
supplant  academies,   190. 

Higher  standard  set  in  all  schools,  211. 

History,  of  education  in  Illinois,  early, 
81;  of  Michigan  College  at  Marshall, 
154;  of  secondary  education  in 
Michigan,  academies  play  notable 
part  in,  151.     See  also  School  history. 

History  taught  in  boys'  school  at 
Detroit,  Latin  and,  95. 

Houghton,  Dr.,  second  professor  in 
university,     141. 

"Hours"  of  work  basis  of  graduation 
from  university,  205. 

Hygiene  required  by  law,  study  of,  233. 

IDEAL  course  for  the  early  schools,  15. 

Ideals  and  forms  of  older  institutions 
adopted  by  university,  144;  for  the 
schools,  13. 

Ideas  of  East  predominate  in  early 
Michigan,  89. 

Illinois,  character  of  settlers  of,  81; 
"colleges"  and  seminaries  in,  83; 
early  history  of  education  in,  81; 
"free  school"  law  of,  83;  first  acade- 
mies in,  83;  first  constitution  of, 
makes  no  provision  for  support  of 
education,  82;  first  school  law  of,  82; 
formed,  71;  receives  school  lands,  82; 
settlers  of,  from  South  Atlantic 
States,  81;  slow  to  establish  state 
educational  system,  82;  state  aid 
for  colleges  and  seminaries  in,  83; 
territorial  laws  of,  do  not  mention 
schools  and  education,  83;  textbooks 
in  schools  of,  83. 

Illustrative  apparatus  in  secondary 
schools,  60. 

Incorporated  academies  in  the  United 
States  in  1850,  list  of,  51,  52. 


Increase,  in  high-school  attendance, 
196;  in  population  of  early  Michigan, 
93;  in  secondary  education,  causes 
of,  196. 

Indiana,  advanced  ideas  of,  impos- 
sible of  realization,  76;  authorizes 
school  officers,  77;  county  seminaries 
in,  79;  deplorable  educational  con- 
ditions in,  up  to  1850,  80;  early  school 
history  of,  74;  formed  from  North- 
west Territory,  71;  permanent  school 
fund  in,  80;  permissive  school  laws 
of,  77;  plan  for  educational  system 
not  developed  by,  76;  proposed 
educational  system  of,  74,  75,  81; 
receives  school  lands,  74;  reformation 
of  educational  conditions  in,  sought 
by  constitution  of  1851,  80;  schools 
of,  a  theme  for  ridicule,  77 ;  school  tax 
in,  81;  seminary  fund  in,  79;  semi- 
nary trustee  in,  79. 

Indians,  and  French,  masters  of  the 
Northwest,  85;  free  schools  for,  in 
164s,  13;  grant  land  for  support  of 
central  college,  100;  in  the  North- 
west,  subdued,   86. 

Individuals,  school  funds  loaned  to, 
118. 

Industrial  training  urged,  233. 

Influence,  of  college-bred  teachers, 
240;  of  French  in  school  system  of 
Michigan,  96;  of  Jesuit  schools,  5;  of 
New  England  felt  in  Michigan,  106; 
of  University  of  Michigan  on  second- 
ary education,  197. 

Influences  affecting  the  higher  life  of 
the  American  people,  4. 

Inhabitants  of  Michigan,  characteris- 
tics   of,    lOS. 

Inspection,  school  visitation  and,  9. 

Institutes  chartered  by  special  legisla- 
tion, academies  and,  79;  in  Indiana, 
rise  of  academies  and,  79. 

Institutions  and  laws  of  Massachusetts 
adopted  by  other  colonies,  3. 

Institutions  and  practices  familiar  to 
the  Puritan  fathers  at  home,  I. 

Instruction,  early,  in  Michigan  probably 
in  French,  95;  for  negroes  in  the 
academies,  166;  in  foreign  languages 
unconstitutional,  194;  in  Romeo 
branch,  laboratory  demonstrations 
part  of,  137;  in  the  academies,  168; 
to  all  be  given  in  English  language, 
law  requiring,  188. 

Inter-high-school  athletics,  Board  of 
Directors   of,    241. 

JACKSON,  Andrew,  democratic  move- 
ment under,  113. 
Janua  linguarum  reserata,  14. 
ealousy  between  France  and  England, 
66. 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  scheme  of,  for  Vir- 
ginia school  system,  97. 
Jesuits,  influence  of  the  schools  of  the,  5. 
onesville     has     first     union     school 
authorized  under  law  of  1843,  178, 


The  Index 


261 


KALAMAZOO,  branch  at,  128;  High 

School  Case,  193. 
Kaskaskia,  early  French  school  at,  81. 

LABORATORY  demonstrations  part 
of  instruction  at  university  branch 
at  Romeo,   137. 

Land,  Boston  grants,  for  school  support, 
6;  Congress  grants,  for  support  of 
university,  70;  dedicated  to  support 
of  the  church,  70;  grants,  average 
value  of,  high,  92 ;  grants,  first  educa- 
tional, made  directly  to  people,  72; 
method  of  locating  a  tract  of,  91;  of 
pestilence  and  poison,  Michigan  a,  87. 

Land  Ordinance  of  1785,  47,  90. 

Lands,  _  Congress  annuls  ordinance 
granting  church,  70;  dedicated  to 
support  of  church  a  source  of  jealousy 
and  contention,  70;  for  support  of 
central  college,  Indians  grant,  100; 
Illinois  receives  school,  82;  Indiana 
receives  school,  74;  in  the  Northwest 
Territory  sold  to  pay  debts  of  Revo- 
lution, 68;  Michigan,  as  a  unit, 
receives  school,  88;  sale  of  public,  of 
Michigan,  116;  survey  of  public,  90. 

Latin,  and  Greek  uppermost  in  thought 
of  early  nineteenth  century,  96;  and 
Greek  and  mathematics  constitute 
bulk  of  studies  in  university,  143; 
and  history  taught  in  boys'  school  at 
Detroit,  95. 

Latin  School,  The  Colonial,  1-33. 

Latin  school,  aim  and  function  of  the, 
i;  the  fishing  interests  and  the,  28; 
aristocratic  in  nature,  35;  course  re- 
duced to  four  years,  57;  every  town 
of  one  hundred  families  required  to 
support  a,  3,  28;  first,  established  in 
Boston,  i;  in  the  Colonial  Period,  4; 
number  of  pupils  attending,  26 ;  of  first 
importance  from  earliest  days,  11. 

Latin  schools,  aimed  to  prepare  for 
college,  20;  coeducation  in,  26;  de- 
cline of,  24;  fines  for  failure  of  towns 
to  maintain,  23,  28;  Harvard  College 
dictating  mistress  of,  20;  no  longer 
meet  social  needs,  24;  privately  sup- 
ported except  in  New  England,  3; 
segregation  in,  27. 

Law,  first  Illinois  school,  82;  general 
school,  3;  Illinois  "free  school,"  83; 
establishing  state  university  in 
Michigan,  103;  of  1817  repealed,  103; 
of  1843,  first  union  school  organized 
under,  at  Jonesville,  178;  permissive 
features  of  school,  made  mandatory, 
3;  permitting  local  officers  to  organ- 
ize union  schools  anywhere,  175; 
required  an  Agricultural  Depart- 
ment in  at  least  one  branch,  127;  re- 
quired state  supervision  of  educa- 
tional institutions,  157;  requiring  all 
instruction  to  be  given  in  English 
language,  188;  requiring  study  of 
physiology  and  hygiene,  233 ;  requir- 
ing university  support  of  branches. 


147;  requiring  university  support  of 
branches  set  aside  by  courts,  147. 

Law  the  only  traditional  college  sub- 
ject not  treated  in  the  course  of 
University  of  Michigan,  100. 

Lawrence  Literary  Institute  Associa- 
tion, 156. 

Laws  and  institutions  of  Massachusetts 
adopted  by  other  colonies,  3;  codi- 
fication of,  of  Connecticut,  28;  early 
school,  of  Ohio,  73;  fine  for  failure 
to  comply  with  school,  of  Michigan, 
107;  Michigan  school,  of  1827,  106, 
107;  permissive  school,  of  Indiana, 
77;  providing  for  branches  of  uni- 
versity,  125. 

Learning,  American  Revival  of,  113. 

"Learning,  passion  for,"  113;  surges 
over    Michigan,    191. 

Legal  status  of  public  secondary 
schools  settled  by  courts,  193. 

Legality  of  high  schools,  friendly  suit 
to  determine,  194. 

Legislature,  annual  reports  of  schools 
to  the,  157;  assumes  neutral  attitude 
toward  secondary  education,  172; 
refuses  to  provide  for  secondary 
education,   173. 

Length  of  courses,  in  union  schools, 
179;  in  high  schools  varied,  192. 

Libraries,  few  high-school,  of  signifi- 
cance, 227;  in  early  union  schools  of 
little  value,  186. 

Library  for  the  university,  nucleus  for 
a,  131. 

Life  in  the  Northwest,  early,  77. 

Lilly,  William,  15. 

Lilly's  Grammar,  19. 

Literary  Institute  Association,  Law- 
rence, 156. 

Literary  society,  almost  the  sole  diver- 
sion in  the  schools,  140;  at  Romeo, 
139;  chartered,   156. 

Local  academies,  union  schools  sup- 
posed to  take  place  of,  178. 

Local  administration  of  schools,  incor- 
porated city  or  town  for  first  time 
made  unit  for,   174. 

Local  board  to  have  general  control  of 
branches,  126;  work  offered  in  graded 
schools  left  to,  176. 

Local  committees,  attitude  of,  toward 
branches,  129. 

Local  of&cers  permitted  by  law  to 
organize  union  schools,   175. 

Locating,  a  given  section  of  land, 
method  of,  92;  any  tract  of  land,  91. 

Location,  of  academy  buildings,  167;  of 
school  buildings,  181. 

Losses  suffered  by  school  fund  of 
Michigan,   117. 

Low  salaries  in  union  schools,  182. 

Lyceum,  140;  Adrian  Lyceum  and 
Benevolent  Association,  156. 

MADISON  Academy  at  Edwardsville, 

111..  83. 
Maine,  30. 


>62 


Public  Secondary  Education 


Mann,  Horace,  and  his  fight  for  better 
schools,  113. 

Marietta,  Ohio,  English  settlement  at, 
67;  receives  federal  aid  for  support 
of  schools,  47. 

Marshall,  history  of  Michigan  College 
at,  154. 

Maryland  vainly  seeks  to  establish 
public  schools  in  1696,  31. 

Massachusetts,  first  type  of  public 
school  in,  i;  laws  and  institutions  of, 
adopted  by  other  colonies,  3;  School 
Law  of  1647  a  model  for  Michigan, 
106;  the  mother  of  American  school 
system,  3;  the  mother  of  secondary 
education  in  America,  27. 

Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  i. 

Master  of  a  school,  duties  of  the,  25. 

Mathematics,  with  Greek  and  Latin, 
constitutes  bulk  of  studies  in  univer- 
sity, 143. 

Matriculation  fee  in  university,  145. 

Men  principals  of  union  schools,   187. 

Methods  of  administering  school  affairs, 
various,  10. 

Michigan,  academies,  seminaries,  and 
colleges  recognized  by  school  system 
of,  124;  academy  reaches  its  highest 
importance  in,  153;  admitted  as  a 
state,  108;  a  land  of  pestilence  and 
poison,  87;  as  a  unit,  receives  school 
lands,  88;  assumes  self-government, 
106;  attempts  to  establish  schools  in, 
unsuccessful,  103;  beginning  of  true 
high-school  period  in,  188;  borrows 
all  school  funds,  118;  boundary 
dispute  of,  110;  character  of  settlers 
of,  89,  105;  chartered  secondary 
schools  of,  158-160;  College  at  Mar- 
shall, history  of,  154;  College  opens 
way  for  other  educational  ventures, 
124;  College,  report  recommending 
charter  for,  155;  "colleges"  in,  154; 
colleges  other  than  state  university 
established  in,  156;  concentration  of 
power  in  schools  of,  loi;  conditions 
in,  particularly  unfavorable  to  settle- 
ment, 87;  conserves  school  lands, 
88;  delays  in  settlement  of,  re- 
dound to  its  educational  advantage, 
88;  demands  adequate  system  of 
education,  114;  early  educational 
system  of,  173;  early  French  schools 
in,  89;  early  history  of,  85;  early 
instruction  in,  probably  in  French, 
95 ;  early  settlements  in,  85;  educa- 
tion at  public  expense  in,  104; 
education  possible  for  all  in,  10 1; 
educational  ideas  of  first  state  super- 
intendent of  education  in,  112; 
educational  provisions  of  the  con- 
stitution of,  no,  in;  educational 
situation  at  the  close  of  the  terri- 
torial period  in,  108;  "English school" 
in,  106;  explorers  and  surveyors  in, 
87;  false  reports  turn  tide  of  migra- 
tion from,  87;  feels  influence  of  New 
Englanders,  106;  first  Board  of  Edu- 


cation of,  99;  fortunate  in  her  early 
educational  administrators,  112; 
foundation  of  educational  system  of, 
90;  French  in,  8s;  French  explorers 
in,  85;  French  influence  upon  educa- 
tion in,  104;  "grammar  school"  in, 
107;  had  no  incorporated  schools 
prior  to  1830,  152;  ideas  of  East  pre- 
dominate in  early,  89;  important 
points  in  Pierce's  plan  for  education 
m,  115;  increase  in  population  due 
to  opening  of  Erie  Canal,  93;  in- 
fluence of  centralizing  theories  of 
French  on  school  system  of,  96; 
legislature  of,  accepts  Pierce's  plan, 
116;  map  showing  growth  of  popu- 
lation in,  94;  migration  from  New 
England  to,  106;  minimum  salary 
law  recommended  in,  114;  new  law 
establishing  state  university  in,  103; 
no  need  for  private  or  denomina- 
tional schools  in,  100;  passion  for 
education  surges  over,  191;  period  of 
greatest  advancement  of  high  schools 
in,  192;  plan  of,  provides  for  estab- 
lishment of  schools  of  every  grade 
from  elementary  to  university,  100; 
population  increases  slowly  in  early, 
93;  powers  and  duties  of  first  Board 
of  Education  of,  99;  present  condition 
of  funds  for  primary  schools  of, 
119,  120;  Primary  School  Fund  of, 
119;  principles  underlying  school 
system  of,  104;  professional  training 
and  state  certification  of  teachers 
recommended  in,  114;  profits  by 
mistakes  of  older  states,  88;  programs 
of  studies  have  common  foundation, 
237;  public  servants  of  early,  loi; 
public  support  and  control  of  schools 
in,  100;  rapidly  recovers  from  effects 
of  Civil  War,  191;  rejects  representa- 
tion in  legislature,  los;  sale  of  public 
lands  of,  116;  sanctions  schools  not 
supported  or  controlled  by  state,  123; 
school  fund  of,  suffers  great  loss,  117; 
school  laws  of,  contradictory,  107; 
school  laws  of  1827,  106,  107;  school 
terms  in,  106,  107;  state  constitution 
first  to  provide  for  state  superintend- 
ent of  education,  108;  State  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction  of, 
108;  takes  steps  to  become  a  state, 
no;  tends  toward  German  educa- 
tional system,  212;  Territorial  De- 
partment of  Education  of,  108; 
Territory  established,  71;  third  type 
of  secondary  education  in,  172; 
university  the  head  of  the  school 
system  in,  104;  Upper  Peninsula 
added  to,  no;  uses  Massachusetts 
School  Law  of  1647  as  model,  106; 
varied  types  of  colleges  stimulate 
education  in,   156. 

Michigan  College,  early  history  of,  154; 
report  recommending  charter  for, 
155- 

"Michigania,  University  of,"  95. 


The  Index 


263 


Middle  colonies,  secondary  education 
in,  30. 

Middle  Period,  the,  4,  34;  academy  in 
the,  4,  34;  relatively  barren  regard- 
ing secondary  education,  34. 

Migration,  from  New  England  to  Michi- 
gan, 106;  westward,  67. 

Minimum  salary  law  for  teachers  in 
Michigan  recommended,   114. 

Missionaries  and  explorers,  French,  65. 

Missionary  motive  for  education,  13. 

Mississippi  River,  part  of  route  of 
French  explorers,  65. 

Modifications,  of  district-school  plan, 
first  step  toward,  174;  of  university 
course  recommended  by  State  Board 
of  Visitors,   144. 

Monroe,  branch  at,   128. 

Monteith,  Reverend  John,  loi. 

Motive  for  education,  the  civil,  13;  the 
missionary,  13;  the  philanthropic, 
13;  the  religious,   13. 

NATIONAL  domain,  the,  67. 

Negroes  in  the  academies,  instruction 
of,  166. 

Neutral  attitude  toward  secondary  ed- 
ucation, legislature  assumes,   172. 

New  Amsterdam,  i;  school  established 
in,  I. 

New  buildings  to  meet  needs  of  new 
type  of  schools,   181. 

New  colleges  founded  between  1776 
and  1796,  44;  more  liberal  in  choice 
of  subject-matter,  43. 

New  England,  academy  and  gram- 
mar school  in,  49;  influence  of,  in 
Michigan,  106;  migration  to  Michi- 
gan from,   106. 

New  Hampshire,  early  public  second- 
ary schools  in,  30. 

New  Haven  Colony,  secondary  educa- 
tion in,  28. 

New  Jersey,  early  elementary  schools 
in,  30. 

New  York,  early  elementary  schools 
in,  30;  first  secondary  school  in, 
30;  standard,  to  be  met  by  private 
schools  of,  121;  university  created 
in,  97. 

Niles,  Mich.,  branch  of  university  at, 
128. 

Normal  Department  of  the  university 
branches,   126. 

Normal  schools  grant  teacher's  certifi- 
cates, 239. 

Normal  training  class,  county,  222. 

North  Carolina,  early  school  conditions 
in,  32. 

Northwest,  early,  64;  early  life  in,  77; 
England  opposes  colonization  of, 
8s;  first  settlers  in,  68;  Indians  in, 
subdued,  86;  obstacles  to  settlement 
of,  86;  perils  and  dangers  in,  86; 
powers  that  controlled,  64;  secondary 
education  in  early,  78. 

Northwest  Territory,  Congress  divides 
the,  71;  disputes  over,  67;  England 


refuses  to  withdraw  from,  71; 
England  second  ruler  of,  66;  factors 
influencing  educational  history  of, 
68;  France  first  white  power  in,  65; 
French  and  Indians  masters  of,  85; 
lands  in,  sold  to  pay  debts  of  Revo- 
lution, 68;  number  of  states  to  be 
made  from,  limited,  71;  powers _  to 
which,  was  subject,  67;  states  claim- 
ing the,  66;  thrown  open  to  pur- 
chasers, 68;  under  the  general  govern- 
ment, 67. 
Number,  of  academies  unknown,  153; 
of  affiliated  schools  increases  rapidly, 
217;  of  pupils  enrolled  in  the  first 
branches,  129;  of  pupils  per  teacher 
in  high  schools,  240;  of  recitations  in 
university  in  1850,  144;  of  states  to 
be  made  from  Northwest  Territory 
limited,  71;  of  students  in  the  uni- 
versity after  1850,  147;  of  women  in 
the  University  of  Michigan,  200. 

OBSTACLES  to  settlement  of  North- 
west, 86. 

Office  of  superintendent,  rise  of,  180. 

Officers,  controlling  the  university,  125; 
special,  in  charge  of  schools,  9. 

Ohio,  a  state,  73;  authorizes  local  school 
officers,  73;  constitution  of,  provides 
for  education,  73;  dissipates  school 
funds,  72;  early  school  laws  of,  73; 
education  lags  in,  72;  establishes 
state  university  at  Athens,  73;  or- 
ganized, 71;  practically  without 
schools,  73. 

Old  and  new  in  secondary  institutions, 

39. 
Old  statutes  of  New  England  outgrown 

and  ignored,  35-36. 
Opening  of  university,  delay  increases 

difficulty  of,    131;  no  longer  to  be 

deferred,   131. 
Opposition  of  Mr.  Pierce  to  private  and 

denominational  schools,  121. 
Ordinance  of  1785,  92;  an  invitation  to 

all  the  world  to  buy,  92. 
Ordinance    of    1787,    47,    7i;    United 

States  still  observes,  47. 
Organization,    of    states   from   North- 
west Territory,  7 1 ;  of  union  schools, 

general  plan  of,  179. 
Original    scheme    for    University    of 

Michigan  never  put  into  operation, 

102. 
Over-emphasis  on  classics   criticized, 

144. 

PANIC  of  1837,  116. 

Paris,  Peace  of,  8s;  Treaty  of,  66. 

Partial  election  of  studies  in  East 
Saginaw,  209. 

Passion  for  education  sweeps  Michi- 
gan, 191. 

"Passion  for  learning,"  113. 

Peace  of  Paris,  85. 

Penn,  William,  30. 

Pennsylvania,  early  education  in,  31. 


264 


Public  Secondary  Education 


People's  co'.leges,  academies  of  nine- 
teenth century  truly,  166. 

Perils  and  dangers  in  the  Northwest,  86. 

Permanent  school  fund  in  Indiana,  80. 

Permissive  school  laws  of  Indiana,  77. 

Philanthropic  motive  for  education,  13. 

Phillips  academies,  aim  of  the,  40-42. 

Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  40;  program 
of  studies  in,  58-60. 

Phillips  family,  40. 

Physiology,  study  of,  required  by  lavsr, 
233- 

Pierce,  Reverend  John,  Superintendent 
of  Public  Instruction  of  Michigan, 
112;  his  plan  of  education  in  Michi- 
gan, lis;  opposes  colleges  rivaling 
state  university,  154;  opposes  private 
and  denominational  schools,  121; 
plan  of,  114;  plan  of,  made  law  al- 
most in  toto,  116;  plan  of,  not  all 
realizable,  115;  slated  for  retirement, 
122. 

Pitcher,  Dr.  Zina,  148. 

Plan,  of  Association  of  City  Superin- 
tendents, 231,  232;  of  the  Commis- 
sion of  Seven,  74;  of  John  Pierce, 
legislature  of  Michigan  accepts,  115; 
of  school  buildings,  181;  Pierce's,  not 
all  realizable,  115. 

Plans,  for  a  university  with  branches 
abandoned,  134;  for  complete  state 
school  system  in  Ohio,  74;  for  con- 
serying  school  funds,  114;  for  edu- 
cational system  not  developed  by 
Indiana,  76;  for  flexible  courses, 
Whitney's,  235;  for  "University  of 
Michigania"  contained  advanced 
ideas,  96;  of  Horace  Mann  and  John 
Pierce  similar,  114. 

Plymouth  Colony,  education  in,  27. 

Points  of  contention  in  fight  on  early 
high  schools,  193,   194. 

Policy  of  regents.  Dr.  Pitcher  prepares 
address  justifying,   148. 

Pontiac,  branch  at,   128. 

Poor,  free  schools  for  the,  13. 

Popular  education,  university  spoken 
of  as  enemy  to,   141. 

Popularity  of  branches  increases,   130. 

Population,  in  Michigan  from  18 10  to 
1890,  map  showing  growth  of,  94; 
of  early  Michigan  increases  slowly, 
93- 

Post-graduate  work  in  high  schools, 
offered,  215;  receives  university 
credit,  216. 

Power,  concentration  of,  in  Michigan 
schools,  loi. 

Powers,  and  duties  of  first  Board  of 
Education  of  Michigan,  99;  control- 
ling the  early  Northwest,  64,  67. 

"Practical  subjects,"  accorded  inferior 
rank,  212;  in  rural  high  schools,  221. 

Practices  and  institutions  familiar  to 
Puritan  fathers  at  home,   i. 

Preparation,  for  university  prime  pur- 
pose of  university  branches,  141;  of 
high-school  teachers,  237. 


Preparatory  work  oflFered  by  Romeo 
branch,   136. 

Prescribed  course,  decline  of,  186. 

Present  condition  of  funds  for  primary 
schools  of  Michigan,   119,   120. 

Primary  School  Fund  of  Michigan.  119; 
sources  of,  119. 

Primary  School  Interest  Fund,  193;  for 
support  of  common  schools,  193. 

Primary  schools  of  Michigan,  present 
condition  of  funds  for,  119,  120. 

Principals,  180;  of  union  schools,  187. 

"Principal  meridian,"  90;  diagram 
showing,  91. 

Principles  incorporated  in  bill  estab- 
lishing University  of  Michigania,  100. 

Private  academies  founded  between 
1830  and   1836,   152. 

Prjvate  gifts,  decreasing,  23. 

Private  schools,  circumstances  tem- 
porarily check  growth  of,  124;  era  of 
activity  of,  124;  in  Michigan,  no 
need  for  denominational  or,  100;  of 
New  York,  standards  to  be  met  by, 
121;  Pierce  opposed  to,  121;  struggle 
in  legislature  over,   122. 

Professional  training  and  state  certi- 
fication of  teachers  in  Michigan 
recommended,   114. 

Professorships  in  the  Department  of 
Literature,  Science,  and  the  Arts,  128. 

Program,  for  union  schools,  207;  in 
academies,  169;  in  the  Boys'  High 
School,  56;  in  the  Girls'  High  School, 
55;  in  Grand  Rapids  High  School, 
1862,  224,  225;  in  high  schools,  pre- 
scribed, 54;  in  Phillips  Exeter  Acade- 
my, 58-60;  in  union  schools  varied, 
180;  in  university,  1843,  142-143;  in 
university,  1850,  146;  in  Wesleyan 
Seminary,  169;  in  Ypsilanti  academ- 
ical department,  185;  of  Detroit 
High  School,  1879,  229-231;  of  Eng- 
lish Co'urse  in  Ann  Arbor  High 
School,  183;  of  studies  for  all  schools, 
new  uniform,  234;  of  1905,  237; 
offered  in  the  classical  school  at 
Detroit,  103. 

Programs,  of  high  schools  consolidated 
and  unified,  229;  of  studies  in  Mich- 
igan have  common  foundation, 
237. 

"Property"  in  academy  charters,  165. 

Protestants  in  America,  5. 

Provisions  by  law  for  branches  of  the 
university.  125;  for  increasing  needs 
of  high  schools,  196;  for  secondary 
education,  legislature  refuses  to 
make,  173;  in  some  academy  charters, 
164-166;  made  for  girls'  schools,  127; 
of  Indiana  for  education,  75. 

Public  control  and  support  of  schools 
in   Michigan,   100. 

Public  expense,  education  in  Michigan 
at,  104. 

Public  high  school  appears,  80. 

Public  Instruction,  State  Superintend- 
ent of,  in  Michigan,  108. 


The  Index 


265 


Public  lands  of  Michigan,  purchasers 
of,  released  from  contracts,  117;  sale 
of,  116;  survey  of,  90. 

Public  school,  Dorchester  first  to  sup- 
port a,  by  direct  taxation,  9;  first 
type  of,  in  Massachusetts  Bay 
Colony,  I. 

Public  schools,  academies  considered 
essentially,  151;  foundation  of 
American,  of  secondary  education, 
2;  graded  schools  not  free,  176. 

Public  secondary  education  at  close 
of  Colonial  Period,  33;  secondary 
schools,  courts  settle  legal  status 
of,  193;  union  school  appears,  80; 
union  schools  secure  a  firm  footing, 
153. 

Purchasers  of  public  lands  released 
from  contracts,   117. 

Puritan  fathers,  the,  i;  practices  and 
institutions  familiar  to,   i. 

Puritans  foster  interest  in  education,  10. 

QUALIFICATIONS  for  master  of 
school  in  Charleston,  S.  C,  32;  for 
teachers  in  grammar  schools,  49. 

Quarter  section,  the,  90. 

"  Question  box  "  in  the  academies,  167. 

"RANGE,"  a,  90. 

"Rate"  in  graded  schools,  176. 

Rate  bill  in  union  schools,   187. 

Recitation  in  university,   1850,   144. 

Records  of  earliest  academies,  151. 

Reduction  of  university  appropria- 
tions, 132. 

Regents,  absolute  masters  of  univer- 
sity, 148;  favor  opening  more 
branches,  131;  policy  of,  justified, 
148-150. 

Relationship  of  high  schools  and  uni- 
versity more  intimate,  212. 

Religion,  and  education,  early  settlers 
of  Northwest  supporters  of,  68,  69; 
Congress  annuls  ordinance  granting 
lands  for  support  of,  70;  in  academy 
charters,  164;  lands  set  aside  for 
support  of,  70;  lands  set  aside  for 
support  of,  a  source  of  jealousy  and 
contention,  70;  study  of  the  Bible 
and,  20. 

Religious,  motive  for  education,  13; 
quarrels  and  criticisms  cast  shadow 
over  branches,  1 30;  sects,  growth  of,70. 

Repeal  of  Law  of  1817,  103. 

Report,  of  Romeo  branch,  135-140; 
recommending  charter  for  Michigan 
College,   155. 

Reports  of  schools  to  the  legislature, 
annual,   157. 

Representation  in  the  legislature, 
Michigan  rejects,   105. 

Representative  school,  St.  Paul's 
School,  London,  a,   15. 

Requirements,  for  admission  to  Scien- 
tific Course,  203;  for  admission  to 
university,  1850,  144;  for  establish- 
ing a  branch  of  university,  125,  126; 


for  position  of  high-school  teacher. 
239;  for  university  entrance,  new,  213. 

Revenue,  Federal  government  dis- 
tributes surplus,   113. 

Revival  of  branches,  133;  demand  for, 
147 ;  hope  of,  abandoned,  148. 

Revival,  of  Learning,  Era  of  the  Ameri- 
can, 113;  of  public  secondary  edu- 
cation, 60-61 ;  of  secondary  education, 
decline  and,  52-53. 

Revolution,  lands  in  Northwest  Terri- 
tory sold  to  pay  debts  of,  68;  leaves 
government  in  debt,  68. 

Revolutionary  period,  Virginia's  school 
system  in,  32. 

Rhode  Island,  secondary  education  in, 
30. 

Richard,  Father  Gabriel,  95,  loi. 

Rigid  courses  losing  favor,  225. 

Rise  and  development  of  union  schools, 
172;  of  academies  and  institutes  in 
Indiana,  79;  of  the  American  acade- 
my, 37;  of  the  common  (elementary) 
schools,  48;  of  office  of  superintend- 
ent. 180. 

Romeo  branch,  and  the  university, 
friendly  suit  between,  135;  appara- 
tus in  the,  137;  coeducation  in,  139; 
faculty  of,  136;  in  1851,  conditions 
in,  135,  136;  laboratory  demonstra- 
tions part  of  instruction  in,  137;  last 
of  the  branches  at,  134;  literary 
society  in,  139;  ofiEered  preparatory 
and  college  work,  136;  report  of, 
135-140;  represented  university 
schools  at  their  best,  135;  scope  of 
instruction  in,  136;  teacher-training 
course  in,   138;  tuition  in,   137. 

Rural  high  schools  authorized,  221; 
"practical"  subjects  in,   221. 

Rural  schools,  training  teachers  for,  222. 

Rural  spelling  school,  140. 

ST.  LAWRENCE  River,  part  of  route 
of  French  explorers,  65. 

St.  Paul's  School,  London,  15;  most 
representative  of  English  grammar 
schools,  15;  requirements  for  ad- 
mission to,  16;  subjects  taught  in,  16. 

Salaries,  better  in  union  schools,  175; 
in  the  colonial  schools,  25;  in  union 
schools,  list  of,  182;  in  union  schools 
low,  182;  in  university  of  Michigania, 
first,  loi. 

Salary  law,  minimum,  for  teachers, 
recommended  in   Michigan,   114. 

School  aSairs,  discussed  and  provided 
for  in  town  meeting,  8;  managed  by 
selectmen,  9;  various  methods  of 
administering,   10. 

School,  classical,  at  Detroit,  102;  dame, 
3;  elementary,  maintained  by  every 
town  of  fifty  families,  3;  established 
in  New  Amsterdam,  i;  every  town 
of  one  hundred  families  required  to 
support  a  Latin,  or  grammar,  3;  free, 
2,  s;  French,  at  Kaskaskia,  81;  gram- 
mar, 2;  Latin,  2;  Latin  grammar,  2; 


266 


Public  Secondary  Education 


public,  2;  public  high,  4,  80;  public 
union,  80;  tax,  in  Indiana,  81;  terms, 
in  Michigan,  106,  107;  training,  be- 
ginning of  esthetic  side  of,  168; 
union,  rise  and  development  of,  172; 
unit  changed  from  township  to  dis- 
trict, 108;  visitation  and  inspection, 
9;  year  in  university,  1850,  145. 

School  building,  contains  all  grades,  180; 
given  over  to  academical  or  high- 
school  department,  180;  location  of, 
181;  plan  of,  181;  pride  of  each  com- 
munity, 181;  union,  180. 

School  districts,  advantages  of  con- 
solidation of,  I7s;  in  Detroit,  eight, 
174;  of  Detroit  consolidated,  174; 
superintendents  urge  consolidation  of, 
176,  177, 

School  funds,  in  Indiana,  permanent, 
89;  insufficient  for  support  of  univer- 
sity and  branches,  131,  147;  loaned 
to  county  and  individuals,  118;  lost 
by  loaning  to  individuals,  118; 
Michigan  borrows,  118;  Ohio  dissi- 
pates, 72;  plan  for  conserving,  114; 
suffer  great  loss,  117. 

School  history,  early,  of  Illinois,  81- 
84;  of  Indiana,  74-81;  of  Michigan, 
89-109;  of  Ohio,  72-74;  of  Wiscon- 
sin, 84. 

School  lands,  a  definitely  located  and 
unvarying  portion  of  public  domain, 
92;  changes  in  methods  of  distribut- 
ing, 47;  Illinois  receives,  82;  Indiana 
receives,  74;  Michigan,  as  a  unit, 
receives,  88. 

School  law,  general,  3;  of  1647,  Massa- 
chusetts, a  model  for  Michigan,  106; 
of  Illinois,  first,  82;  permissive  fea- 
tures of,  made  mandatory,  3. 

School  laws  contradictory.  Michigan, 
107;  fine  for  failure  to  comply  with, 
in  Michigan,  107;  of  1827,  Michigan, 
106,  107;  of  Ohio,  early,  73;  permis- 
sive of  Indiana,  77. 

School  libraries  small  and  of  inferior 
grade,  early,   186. 

School  officers,  Indiana  authorizes,  77; 
Ohio  authorizes  local,  73. 

School  system,  academies  not  strictly 
speaking  a  part  of  state-supported, 
iSi;  beginning  of  a,  recognizing  three 
grades  of  instruction  and  three  types 
of  institutions,  3;  for  Virginia, 
Jefferson's  scheme  for  a,  97;  influence 
of  centralizing  theories  of  the  French 
on  the  Michigan,  96;  Massachusetts 
the  mother  of  the,  3;  of  Indiana,  ap- 
proaches first  ideal,  81;  of  Michigan, 
academies,  seminaries,  and  colleges 
recognized  in,  124;  of  Michigan, 
educational  principles  underlying, 
104;  of  Michigan,  real  beginning  of 
the,  95 ;  of  Michigan,  the  university 
the  head  of,  104;  plan  for  complete 
state,  in  Ohio,  74;  Thomas  Jefferson's 
plan  for,  32;  Virginia's,  during 
Revolutionary  period,  32. 


Schools,  academies  considered  essen- 
tially public,  rsi;  advantages  of 
union,  178;  all  set  higher  standards, 
211;  and  education,  territorial  laws 
of  Illinois  make  no  mention  of,  82; 
annual  reports  of,  to  the  legislature, 
157;  at  Detroit,  early,  95;  attempts 
to  establish,  in  Michigan  unsuccess- 
ful, 103;  attempts  to  secure  perma- 
nent and  successful,  160;  below 
university  first  to  adopt  coeducation, 
198;  building  to  meet  needs  of  new 
type  of,  181;  circumstances  tem- 
porarily check  growth  of,  124;  Civil 
War  temporarily  checks  all,  191;  co- 
education in  union,  187;  concentra- 
tion of  power  in  Michigan,  loi; 
demand  for  adequate,  37;  early 
Catholic,  at  Detroit,  95;  elementary 
and  secondary  education  demanded 
two  distinct  types  of,  120;  era  of 
activity  of,  124;  established  from 
1629  to  1645,  7;  for  boys,  the 
branches,  127;  founded  before  Revo- 
lution still  in  existence,  some,  44; 
graded,  not  free  public  schools,  176; 
Horace  Mann's  fight  for  better,  113; 
ideals  for  the,  13;  important  towns 
establish  union  or  graded,  178;  in 
Michigan  before  1830  not  incorpo- 
rated, 152;  in  Michigan,  early 
French,  89;  in  Michigan,  no  need  for 
private  or  denominational,  100;  in 
Michigan,  public  support  and  control 
of,  100;  in  South  Carolina,  32;  list 
of  salaries  in  union,  182;  literary 
society  almost  sole  diversion  in,  140; 
low  salaries  in  union,  182;  Marietta, 
Ohio,  receives  federal  aid  for  support 
of,  47;  Mr.  Pierce  opposed  to  private 
and  denominational,  121;  nearly  all 
colonies  possessed  Latin,  2;  no  fixed 
standard  for  union,  178;  not  con- 
trolled or  supported  by  the  state, 
Michigan  sanctions,  123;  of  agri- 
culture, county,  222;  of  domestic 
science,  county,  222;  of  every  grade 
from  elementary  to  university  pro- 
vided for  by  Michigan  plan,  100;  of 
Indiana  a  theme  for  ridicule,  77;  of 
Michigan,  chartered  secondary,  with 
dates  of  incorporation,  158-160;  of 
social  democracy,  the  academies.  166; 
of  Wisconsin.  84;  Ohio  practically 
without, 73  ;"Principal  of  the  Schools," 
181;  provisions  made  for  girls',  127; 
public  union,  secure  firm  footing, 
153;  rate  bill  in  union,  187;  sixteenth 
section  of  every  township  granted 
for  support  and  maintenance  of.  70; 
stronger,  offered  classical  course,  183; 
"Superintendent  of  Schools,"  181; 
superintendents  favor  graded,  or 
union,  176,  177;  terms  in  union.  180; 
textbooks  in  Illinois,  83;  textbooks 
in  union,  187;  the  day  in  the  old 
colonial,  25;  tuition  or  "rate"  in 
graded,    176;    union,    foundation   of 


The  Index 


267 


high  schools  of  to-day,  187;  uni- 
versal demand  for,  113;  variety  of 
titles  for  secondary,  160;  various 
means  of  maintaining,  10;  what  the 
various,  prepared  for,  3. 

Science  and  Art  of  Teaching,  Michigan 
first  to  have  chair  of,  238. 

Science  demands  its  own  place  in  col- 
lege curriculum,  202. 

Scientific  Course,  established  in  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan,  203;  require- 
ments for  admission  to,  203. 

Scope,  and  plan  of  union  schools  agree 
closely,  179;  of  high-school  program, 
changes  in,  223,  224;  of  instruction 
in  Romeo  branch,   136. 

Secondary  education,  academy  fur- 
nishes only  in  America,  40;  and  first 
state  constitutions,  45;  at  the  close 
of  the  colonial  period,  public,  33; 
causes  of  increase  of,  196;  classed  as 
superior  education,  193;  decline  and 
revival  of,  52-53;  elementary  and, 
demand  two  distmct  types  of  schools, 
120;  first  school  of,  in  America,  i; 
for  girls,  27;  foundation  of  American 
public  schools  of,  2 ;  general  situation 
of,  at  close  of  colonial  period,  27; 
in  "branches"  of  the  university, 
124;  in  Connecticut,  28;  in  early 
Northwest,  78;  in  Michigan,  acade- 
mies play  notable  part  in  history  of, 
151;  in  Michigan,  third  type  of,  172; 
in  middle  colonies,  30;  in  New  Haven 
Colony,  28;  in  Rhode  Island,  30; 
influence  of  University  of  Michigan 
on,  197;  legislature  assumes  neutral 
attitude  toward,  172;  legislature 
refuses  to  make  provision  for,  173; 
Massachusetts  the  mother  of,  in 
America,  27;  no  free,  162;  period  of 
hesitancy  and  halting  in,  172;  real 
beginnings  of  working  system  of 
public,  in  Michigan,  107;  revival  of 
public,  60-61;  story  of  American, 
falls  in  three  divisions,  4;  transition 
period  in,  61. 

Secondary  institutions,  the  old  and  the 
new  in,  39. 

Secondary  school,  the  academy  the 
second  great  type  of,  151;  first,  in 
New  York,  30. 

Secondary  schools,  courts  settle  legal 
status  of  public,  93;  earliest  acade- 
mies in  a  sense,  152;  English  Latin 
the  prototypes  of  early  American, 
S;  for  girls,  27;  free,  secular,  state- 
supported,  demanded,  173;  illustra- 
tive apparatus  used  in,  60;  of 
Michigan,  chartered,  with  dates  of 
incorporation,  158-160;  offer  both 
elementary  and  college  subjects,  185; 
variety  of  titles  of,  160. 

Secondary-school,  problem,  three  solu- 
tions offered  for  the,  162;  work 
lacked  life  and  interest,  60. 

Section,  the,  90;  diagram  of  a,  91;  of 
each  township  numbered,  each,  90; 


of  land,  method  of  locating  a  given, 
92;  the  quarter,  90;  sixteenth  always 
lies  near  center  of  township,  92; 
sixteenth,  of  every  township  dedi- 
cated to  education,  70;  system  of 
numbering,    90. 

Sects,  growth  of  religious,  70. 

Segregation  in  Latin  schools,  27. 

Self-government,  Michigan  assumes, 
106;  people  of  Territory  of  Michigan 
indifferent  to  English  idea  of,   lOS. 

Semestrial  plan  adopted,  216. 

Seminaries,  find  recognition  in  Michi- 
gan school  system,  124;  in  Illinois, 
"colleges"  and,  83;  in  Illinois,  state 
aid  for  colleges  and,  83;  meet  an 
unfilled  demand,  academies  and,  80; 
part  of  expenses  of,  and  academies 
met  by  County  Seminary  Fund,  79. 

Seminary,  county,  in  Indiana,  79; 
decline  of  the,  80;  first,  in  Fayette 
County,  79;  fund,  Indiana's,  79;  of 
learning,  Congress  grants  land  for 
support  of  a  university  or,  70; 
trustee,  Indiana's,  79. 

Settlement,  conditions  in  Michigan 
particularly  unfavorable  to,  87;  de- 
lays in,  redound  to  educational 
advantage  of  Michigan,  88;  English, 
at  Marietta,  Ohio,  67;  of  Northwest, 
obstacles  to,  86. 

Settlements,  and  trading-posts,  early 
French,  65;  early,  in   Michigan,  85. 

Settlers,  early  dangers  faced  by,  86; 
of  Northwest  supporters  of  religion 
and  education,  68,  69;  first,  in  North- 
west, 68;  of  Illinois,  character  of, 
81;  of  Illinois,  from  South  Atlantic 
States,  81;  of  Michigan,  character  of, 
89;  of  Northwest  guaranteed  ad- 
vantages equal  to  those  of  rest  of 
nation,    69. 

Sixteenth  section  of  every  township  to 
be  used  for  support  of  education,  47, 
70. 

Social  democracy,  academies  schools  of, 
166. 

Social  need,  academy  fills,  34;  Latin 
schools  no  longer  meet,  24. 

Sources,  of  Primary  School  Fund  of 
Michigan,  119;  of  support  of 
branches,  126;  of  support  of  "First 
College  of  Michigania,"  102;  of 
support  of  University  of  Michigan, 
103. 

South  Carolina,  first  school  in,  32. 

South,  education  in  the,  31. 

Special  legislation,  academies  and  in- 
stitutes chartered  by.  79. 

Special  oflScers,  Dorchester  provides 
first,  for  school  administration,  9; 
in  charge  of  schools,  9. 

Spelling  school,  rural,   140. 

Spring  Arbor  Academy,  152. 

Standard  of  all  schools  raised,  211: 
school  period  of  twelve  years  and 
twelve  grades,  215;  union  schools 
have  no  fixed,  178. 


268 


Public  Secondary  Education 


Standards  to  be  met  by  private  schools 
in  New  York,  121. 

State  aid  for  colleges  and  seminaries  in 
Illinois,  83. 

State  Board  of  Education  grants 
teacher's  certificates,  239. 

State  Board  of  Visitors  recommends 
modification  of  university  course,  144. 

State  constitutions  and  secondary 
education,  45. 

State  educational  system,  Illinois  slow 
to  establish  a,  82. 

State  superintendent  of  education,  in 
Michigan,  educational  ideas  of  the 
first,  112;  Michigan  constitution 
first  to  provide  for,   108. 

State  supervision  of  educational  insti- 
tutions, law  required,   157. 

States,  number  of  to  be  formed  from 
Northwest  Territory  limited,  71; 
which  claimed  Northwest  Territory, 
66. 

Statistics  from  twenty-eight  high 
schools  in  1874,  227. 

Status,  of  academies  in  United  States 
in  1850,  si;  of  public  secondary 
schools,  courts  settle  legal,   193. 

Stock  companies  organized  academies, 
163. 

Students,  admitted  to  university  on 
their  own  merits,  220;  and  faculty 
of  university  rapidly  increase,  142; 
choose  studies  in  academies,  170; 
from  affiliated  schools  do  better 
university  work,  218;  in  university 
after  1S50,  number  of,   147. 

Studies,  free  election  of,  in  high  schools 
first  seen,  209;  for  union  schools. 
Superintendent  Gregory  suggests 
program  of,  207;  in  the  academy, 
program  of,  169;  in  union  schools, 
varied  program  of,  183;  in  universi- 
ties, 1843,  program  of,  142,  143;  in 
university,  1850,  program  of,  146; 
in  university,  Latin,  Greek,  and 
mathematics  constitute  bulk  of,  143; 
in  Ypsilanti  academical  department, 
program  of,  185;  partial  election  of,  in 
East  Saginaw,  209;  principle  of  free 
choice  of,  finding  favor,  186;  pro- 
gram of,  in  Wesleyan  Seminary,  169. 

Subject-matter  in  academies  arranged 
in  departments,    168;   in   University 
of  Michigan,  expansion  of,  202. 
Subjects   presented    for   admission   to 
university,    nearly    free    choice    of, 
20S;  required  for  admission  to  high 
school,  183;  taught  in  University  of 
Michigania,   100. 
Suit,  between  Romeo  branch  and  uni- 
versity, friendly,    135;   to  determine 
legality  of  high  schools,  friendly,  194. 
Superintendent    of    Public    Education 
in    Michigan,    108;    Reverend    John 
Pierce,  112. 
"Superintendents  of  Schools,"  180, 181; 
urge  consolidation  of  school  districts, 
176,  177. 


Supervision  of  high-school  athletics 
rigid,  242. 

Support,  and  establishment  of  schools  a 
legitimate  function  of  government, 
6;  of  both  university  and  branches, 
funds  lacking  for,  131, 147;  of  branches 
causes  financial  embarrassment  of 
university,  147;  of  branches  com- 
pletely withdrawn  by  university,  133; 
demand  for,  of  branches,  147;  sources 
of,  for  branches,  126;  of  common 
schools.  Primary  School  Interest 
Fund  for,  193;  of  high  schools  in  part 
from  University  Fund,  93;  of 
schools,  proceeds  from  the  fisheries 
for,   27,   28. 

Surplus  revenue.  Federal  government 
distributes  the,   113. 

Survey  of  public  lands,  90. 

Surveyors  in  Michigan,  explorers  and, 

_  87. 

System,  of  education,  Michigan  de- 
mands adequate,  114;  of  free  schools, 
tendency  of  state  policy  toward,  194; 
of  numbering  sections,  90;  real  begin- 
ning of  school,  of  Michigan,  95. 

TAX,  Boston  levies,  for  school  support, 
7;  for  support  of  academies,  34;  for 
support  of  education  repealed,  103; 
for  support  of  grammar  schools,  27; 
in  Indiana,  school,  81. 

Taxation,  Dorchester  first  to  support  a 
public  school  by  direct,  9. 

Teachers  better  in  union  schools,  175; 
differentiation  of  functions  of,  180; 
employed  in  university,  129;  for 
rural  schools,  training,  222;  influence 
of  college-bred,  240;  in  grammar 
schools,  qualifications  for,  49;  in 
high  schools  hold  college  degrees, 
239;  in  union  schools  women,  187; 
preparation  of  high-school,  237. 

Teachers'  Appointment  Committee, 
beginnings  of,   139. 

Teacher's  certificates,  granted  by  uni- 
versity, 238;  normal  schools  grant, 
239;  State  Board  of  Education 
grants,   239. 

Teachers'  departments  in  high  schools, 
226. 

"Teacher's  Diploma,"  238. 

Teacher-training  course  at  Romeo,  138. 

Teaching  unattractive  to  college  grad- 
uates, 36. 

Teaching  assistants,  r8o. 

Teaching  staff  of  university  at  its  open- 
ing, 142. 

Tecumseh,  branch  at,  129. 

Terms,  in  Michigan,  school,  106,  107; 
in  union  schools,  180;  of  academy 
year,   168. 

Territorial  Department  of  Education  of 
Michigan,  108. 

Territorial,  laws  of  Illinois  make  no 
mention  of  schools  and  education, 
82;  period,  educational  system  in 
Michigan  at  close  of,   108. 


The  Index 


269 


Territory  of  Michigan,  people  of,  in- 
different to  English  idea  of  self- 
government,   105. 

Textbooks,  in  academies,  170;  in  Illinois 
schools,  83;  in  union  schools,  187. 

Texts  used  in  colonial  schools  brought 
from  England,   17. 

Theology  excluded  from  the  university, 
128. 

Titles  of  secondary  schools,  variety  of, 
160. 

Towns,  important,  establish  graded  or 
union  schools,  178;  vie  for  possession 
of  branches,  129. 

Township,  the,  90;  diagram  of  a,  91; 
district  instead  of,  made  the  school 
unit,  108;  each  section  of  each, 
numbered,  90;  section  sixteen  always 
lies  near  center  of,  92;  system  of 
numbering,  91. 

Trading-posts,  early  French  settle- 
ments and,  65. 

Training,  professional,  recommended 
for  teachers  in  Michigan,  114;  of 
teachers  at  Romeo,  138;  of  teachers 
for  rural  schools,  222. 

Transition  period  in  secondary  edu- 
cation, 61. 

Treaty,  of  Ghent,  71;  of  Paris,  66. 

Trustee,  Indiana's  seminary,  79. 

"Trustees  of  Michigan   College,"  123. 

Tuition,  fees,  34;  in  academies,  168; 
in  graded  schools,  176;  in  Romeo 
branch,  137. 

UNIFICATION  of  high-school  pro- 
grams, 229. 

Uniformity  among  early  high  schools, 
little,  206. 

Union  school,  at  Jonesville  organized, 
178;  forerunner  of  the  present-day 
high  school,  172;  not  expected  to 
prepare  for  college,  178;  public, 
appears,  80;  Superintendent  Gregory 
suggests  program  of  studies  for,  207; 
supplants  the  academy,  163;  the  day 
in  the,  180;  third  type  of  education 
in  Michigan,  172;  to  take  place  of 
local  academy'.  178. 

Union  school  building,  180;  built,  177; 
contains  all  grades,  180;  given  over 
to  academical  (high-school)  depart- 
ment, 180;  location  of,  181;  plan  of, 
181;  pride  of  community,  181;  to 
meet  needs  of  new  type  of  school,  181. 

Union  schools,  advantages  of,  178;  agree 
closely  in  plan  and  scope,  179;  better 
salaries  in,  175;  better  teachers  in, 
175;  coeducation  in,  187;  depart- 
ments in,  179;  early  organization  of, 
211;  foundation  of  high  schools  of 
to-day,  187;  general  plan  of  organi- 
sation of,  179;  grading  in,  I7S;  nave 
httle  apparatus,  early,  186;  have 
men  for  principals,  187;  have  no  fixed 
standard,  178;  have  women  teachers, 
187;  important  towns  establish, 
178;  law  permitting  local  officers  to 


organize,  anywhere,  175;  length  of 
courses  in,  179;  list  of  salaries  in, 
182;  rate  bill  in,  187;  reporting  in 
1859,  189;  rise  and  development  of, 
172;  secure  a  footing,  public,  153; 
superintendents  favor,  176,  177; 
terms  in,  180;  text  books  in,  187; 
varied   program  of  studies  in,    183. 

Union-school,  districts  demanded 
throughout  state,  174;  libraries  small 
and  of  inferior  grade,  186;  salaries 
low,  182. 

United  States  still  follows  Ordinance  of 
1786,  47. 

Universities,  coeducation  not  favored 
by,  198;  nuclei  for  state,  and  system 
of  free  higher  education,   70. 

University,  created  in  New  York,  97; 
Georgia  establishes,  97;  Ohio  estab- 
lishes state,  73- 

University  of  Michigan,  administration 
of,  103;  admission  by  certificate,  210; 
admission  by  examination,  134;  ad- 
mission on  merit,  220;  admission  re- 
quirements in  1850,  144;  affiliation 
with  high  schools,  202,  216;  allows 
nearly  free  choice  of  entrance  sub- 
jects, 205;  appropriations  reduced, 
132;  articulation  with  high  schools, 
202,  212;  baccalaureate  degree  con- 
ferred, 205;  branches,  see  Branches  of 
the  university;  buildings  erected  at 
Ann  Arbor,  131;  Classical  Course 
established,  203;  Commission  of  Ex- 
aminers for  high  schools,  213;  Con- 
gress grants  land  for  support  of,  70; 
courses  in,  104,  203;  degrees  granted 
by,  204;  election  of  studies  first  ap- 
pears in,  203;  elective  principle 
applied  to  all  work,  205;  engineering 
courses  established,  203;  entrance  re- 
quirements, 213;  equipment  pur- 
chased, 141;  expansion  of  subject- 
matter  in,  202;  expenses  of  students, 
104;  faculty  and  students  of,  increase, 
142;  fees  in,  14s;  first  catalogue  of, 
142;  first  woman  student  in,  200; 
follows  ideals  and  forms  set  by  older 
institutions,  144;  friendly  suit  be- 
tween Romeo  branch  and,  135;  girls 
admitted  to,  in  1870,  129;  gradua- 
tion from,  based  on  "hours"  of  work, 
205;  grants  limited  certificate  privi- 
leges to  high  schools  preparing  for  any 
one  college  course,  219;  grants  teach- 
er's certificate,  239;  head  of  Michigan 
school  system,  104;  high  schools 
affected  by  additional  entrance  re- 
quirements in,  214,  by  changes  in 
policy  in,  205,  by  coeducation  in,  201; 
mfluence  of,  on  secondary  education, 
197;  located  at  Ann  Arbor,  128;  mod- 
ification of  course  in,  recommended 
by  State  Board  of  Visitors,  144;  non- 
sectarian,  104;  nucleus  of  a  library 
for,  131;  number  of  students  in,  after 
1850,  147;  number  of  women  in,  200; 
officers  controlling,  125;  opens  with 


270 


Public  Secoridary  Education 


seven  students  and  four  teachers,  142; 
post-graduate  high-school  work,  cred- 
it given  for,  216;  program  of  studies 
in  1843,  142,  143;  program  of  studies 
in  1850,  146;  recitations  in  1850,  144; 
regents  absolute  masters  of,  148; 
relations  with  branches,  see  Branches 
of  the  university;  requirements  for 
establishing  branches  of  the,  125. 
126;  Romeo  branch  represented 
schools  of,  at  their  best,  13s;  school 
year  in  1850,  145;  Science  and  Art  of 
Teaching,  first  to  have  chair  of,  238; 
Scientific  Course  established,  203; 
sources  of  support  of,  103;  teachers 
employed  by,  129;  theology  excluded 
from,  128;  three  departments  of,  128; 
women  admitted  to,  200;  women 
demand  entrance  to,  199;  women 
refused  admittance  to,  199;  work  of 
high  quality  done  in,  by  students 
from  affiliated  schools,  218 

"University  of  Michigania,"  95;  bill 
creating  the,  97-99;  first  faculty  of, 
loi;  first  salaries  in,  10 1;  law  the 
only  traditional  college  subject  not 
included  in  the  course  in,  100;  orig- 
inal plan  for,  never  put  in  opera- 
tion, 102;  plan  for,  contained  ad- 
vanced ideas,  96;  principles  em- 
bodied in  the  bill  establishing,  100; 
sources  of  support  of,  99;  subjects 
covered  in  the  courses  of,  100. 

University  Fund,  193;  partly  supports 
high  schools,  194. 

Upper  Peninsula  added  to  Michigan, 
no. 

Usher,  duties  of  the  school,  25. 

VALUE  of  land  grants  high,  average, 

92. 
Variety,  of  titles  applied  to  secondary 

schools,    160;    of    types    of    colleges 

stimulate    education    in     Michigan, 

IS6. 
Vermont,  30. 
Vincennes  University,  74. 


Virginia,  authorizes  schools  in  1660, 
31;  Jefferson's  scheme  for  school 
system  for,  97;  school  system  in 
Revolutionary  period,  32. 

Virginia  Company,  the,  i;  provisions 
of,  for  founding  schools  in  America,  i. 

Voluntary  contributions  for  support  of 
schools,  28. 

WAR  of  1812,  71. 

Ward  buildings,   180. 

Washington  Academy  at  Carlyle,  III., 
83. 

Wesleyan  Seminary,  program  of 
studies  in,   169. 

West  India  Company,  i;  provisions  of, 
for  founding  schools  in  America,   I. 

Westward  migration,  67. 

White  Pigeon,  branch  of  university  at, 
129. 

William  Penn  Charter  School,  31. 

Wisconsin,  fifth  territory  in  the  North- 
west, 72;  from  the  first  gave  system- 
atic attention  to  schools  and  educa- 
tion, 84;  profits  by  her  neighbors' 
experiences,  84;  schools  of,  84. 

V/oman  student,  first,  in  the  University 
of  Michigan,  200. 

Women,  admitted  to  University  of 
Michigan,  200;  demand  entrance  to 
University  of  Michigan,  199;  number 
of,  in  University  of  Michigan,  200; 
instructors  in  the  branches,  129; 
refused  admittance  to  University  of 
Michigan,  199;  teachers  in  union 
schools,   187. 

Work  in  university  made  elective,  205; 
offered  by  Romeo  branch,  college 
and  preparatory,  136;  offered  in 
graded  school  left  to  local  board, 
176. 

YEAR  in  the  university  (1850),  the 
school,   14s. 

Young  Men's  Society,  Detroit,  157. 

Ypsilanti  academical  department,  pro- 
gram of  studies  in,  185. 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


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